


This Got Out of Hand

by artikgato



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anal Sex, Blackmail, Bottom Yosuke, Deepthroating, Drunk Sex, Foreplay, Friends With Benefits, Gangbang, Hand Jobs, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jealousy, M/M, Missionary Position, More tags to be added, Nipple Licking, Oral Sex, Past Rape/Non-con, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Top Yu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:21:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29004420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato
Summary: Yu wasn’t entirely sure how to navigate the fact that Yosuke was drinking straight from the bottle. He wasn’t entirely sure how to navigate the tired smile Yosuke sent at him, either. It didn’t reach his eyes, the smile, but then again lately they rarely did.He wanted to ask. He wanted so badly to ask what was wrong, but he knew from experience that if Yosuke didn’t volunteer the information there was little he could do to get it out of his friend.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 12
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE READ THE TAGS. This fic will get dark. Yu and Yosuke's relationship and all sex between them is 100% consensual, but the central plot of this fic is Yosuke dealing with the very recent trauma of being bribed/coerced/forced into sleeping with his boss and others in a position of power at his former job. Most of the actual details of what happened are contained in one single chapter that will be entirely skippable, but there will still be mentions of what happened throughout the fic. It will have a happy ending though, so if you can stomach all those content warnings it'll be worth it! 
> 
> I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to write this fic, to be honest. It was supposed to just be a one-shot single chapter fic (chapter 1 essentially) but then I just kept writing it. And writing it. And writing it. It's just over 40k words and 12 chapters long and, yes, I am actually done with it. It's very weird for me to be done with a fic before I start posting. Writing this story was also a very weird experience for me in general. I have not personally experienced anything even close to what Yosuke goes through, so I have no way of knowing if any of this is accurate. I didn't know where the fic was going for almost the entire time I was writing it. There were times where I was actually impatient to get back to writing, because I wanted to know where it was going! Anyway, this thing really did get out of hand. It was supposed to be, like, 1000 to 2000 words!

Yu Narukami is no stranger to answering the door at ten, eleven, twelve-o-clock at night to find Yosuke on the other side, a kind of desperate sad look on his face and a bottle of saké in his hands. He can usually judge how the night is going to go either by how big or expensive the bottle is. It’s never a good sign when it’s both.

He’s less used to coming home from work and finding his best friend already slumping on his couch, half-finished bottle of sake in his grasp. Under normal circumstances, Yu would take the alcohol from his friend at the door and serve it in some of his quote unquote “fancy” sake cups. He’d match him cup for cup, too. Yu wasn’t entirely sure how to navigate the fact that Yosuke was drinking straight from the bottle. He wasn’t entirely sure how to navigate the tired smile Yosuke sent at him, either. It didn’t reach his eyes, the smile, but then again lately they rarely did.

He wanted to ask. He wanted so badly to ask what was wrong, but he knew from experience that if Yosuke didn’t volunteer the information there was little he could do to get it out of his friend. He thought he had an idea, anyway, considering the fact that he didn’t think he’d seen Yosuke this early in the day, on a weekday nonetheless, in months. These visits of his were almost always prompted by trouble at work. It didn’t take much thought to connect those dots. The only real question was had he left work voluntarily — and permanently, for that matter — or had he been forced to quit? Or fired?

“Shorry,” Yosuke slurred, gesturing with the hand that was holding the alcohol. “I didn’t— I didn’t wanna go home, and I didn’t know where elsh to go. I let m’self in.”

“That’s why I gave you the spare key,” Yu said, carefully. He put his briefcase down in its usual place by the door and slipped out of his shoes. “Want to talk about it?”

“Nah, I wanna forget,” Yosuke slurred. Yu nodded, reaching up and loosening his tie. He didn’t bother putting on house slippers. ‘I want to forget’ was Yosuke’s way of asking for sex. Well, not necessarily for _sex_. The way he explained it, Yu could make his mind go blank if he fucked him hard enough, and _that’s_ what he wanted — to not have to think, for just a little while. The saké, or alcohol in general did something similar, Yosuke had explained to him. Only it wasn’t as effective at making his mind go blank as getting fucked.

“Are you sure you’re up for it? You’ve had a lot to drink,” Yu pointed out. Yosuke frowned at the bottle.

“Yeah, sorry, I just… didn’t know what else to do,” he muttered, almost too quiet for Yu to hear him. He put the bottle down a little too hard on Yu’s glass-topped coffee table, and then he heaved himself to his feet, wobbling a little but staying up. Yu had to fight down the urge to help him as he stumbled toward Yu’s bedroom. Instead he just followed his friend, pulling off his tie and suit jacket as he went.

They’d done this so many times, now, that it was easy to fall into the same old routine. Yosuke shucked off his pants and boxers and pulled the lube and a condom out of Yu’s night stand. Yu hung his jacket and tie up and watched Yosuke clamber onto the bed on his hands and knees. When it became apparent that Yosuke was too drunk to even open the lube, let alone do anything with it, Yu patiently took the bottle out of his hands.

“Sorry,” Yosuke slurred. “I didn’t mean to drink that much…”

“Don’t puke on my bed,” Yu warned, and Yosuke barked out a sad little laugh. He spread his legs for Yu when Yu climbed onto the bed behind him, popping open the little container and slathering two fingers with lube. He knew not to start with one finger, Yosuke was too impatient for that nowadays. He’d insist he didn’t need to be coddled. Yosuke still hissed in pain and squirmed a little in discomfort when Yu pressed two fingers in. By now Yu knew better than to stop or ask if he was alright. He kept going, carefully stretching Yosuke open. He simply put his head down in Yu’s pillows and held his hips up. It wasn’t long before he was moaning into the pillow, too drunk to realize how much noise he was making.

Yu moved quickly, knowing Yosuke was going to start getting impatient if he took too long. Even still, he couldn’t resist pushing his fingers against Yosuke’s prostate a few times. The resulting moaning and bucking of Yosuke’s hips were well worth it. Still, he knew Yosuke was getting impatient from the way he moved his hips, agitated. Yu pulled out his fingers and rolled on the condom, quickly slicking himself up. He lined himself up and sank himself into the tight, slick heat of Yosuke’s ass.

Yosuke always tended to make a little involuntary gasp whenever Yu pushed his dick into him, but this time it was much more pronounced in his drunken state. Yu bit his lips on an answering moan. Yosuke always got a little weird if Yu made too much noise during sex. Yu was a naturally quiet guy so it normally worked out great — he’d once told Yu that how quiet he managed to be was a big part of the reason why he kept coming back to him for sex. Other people were too noisy and it took him out of the moment, he’d explained. Too much noise from the other party reminded him of what he was doing. Reminded him that he was a person. Reminded him of what he was so desperately trying not to think about.

It bothered Yu more than he wanted to admit that he wasn’t the only one that Yosuke went to for sex. They weren’t _together_ or anything, so it wasn’t like he had a good reason to be jealous… but Yosuke was his best friend. It wasn’t _just_ jealousy, he worried about him. He’d never met any of these other guys that Yosuke fucked, nor any of the women for that matter. Honestly, he hated that there were other people out there that got to see Yosuke like this, got to _feel_ Yosuke like this.

Yosuke had once told him that he felt guilty for taking up so much of Yu’s time with his needs. Yu supposed that he should have taken that opportunity to tell Yosuke how he felt about him, but he hadn’t been able to get the words to come out. He didn’t want to scare him away for good. Being friends with benefits, or whatever it was that they were now, was an infinitely better alternative than potentially never seeing Yosuke again when he cut Yu out of his life entirely. He’d seen it happen, he’d seen Yosuke do it to other people. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think that Yosuke would make an exception just because they’d been best friends since high school.

It was frustrating, but that tended to work out in Yosuke’s favor too. The more frustrated Yu was over the situation, the harder he fucked him. The harder Yu fucked him, the more easy it was for Yosuke’s mind to go blank, for his mind to empty of all the thoughts that plagued him. For a few blissful moments, he’d explained, all he could think about was the feeling of being fucked. And after he came he was usually so out of it that the bad thoughts didn’t have a chance to stick. It was the only time he really ever got any peace from his own mind.

And so, that was how and why Yu Narukami found himself kneeling behind his best friend, hands gripping his hips hard as he fucked him into his mattress. Yu could only see half of Yosuke’s face from his vantage point, but he could see the change from tired desperation to faraway dreaminess as he continued to fuck him. Tears were streaming out of his glassy, unfocused eyes, and drool was pooling below his chin. He looked like a total slut, if Yu was being honest. He had a powerful urge to tell him, to reach down and grab a fistful of hair and pull him away from the pillows and snarl it into one of Yosuke’s ears. But he didn’t. He _couldn’t_. Yosuke clearly needed this, needed some respite from his thoughts. The last thing Yu wanted to do was to take that away from him. Maybe some other time. Maybe one of these times it would be about what _Yu_ wants, what _Yu_ needs, not what _Yosuke_ —

“Touch me,” Yosuke suddenly gasped, and Yu’s steady thrusts faltered. Yosuke _never_ talked during sex. Yu was flabbergasted. Yosuke whined and rolled his hips back against Yu’s suddenly still body. “I— oh fuck, I can’t, I _can’t_ , I’m too drunk, I— please, _please!_ ” Yosuke lifted his head away from the pillows and looked over his shoulder at Yu. He rolled his hips again but the motion was unsteady.

“Yosuke?” Yu asked, and Yosuke whined in response.

“Don’t stop,” he whimpered, he _begged_. “Oh fuck, please don’t stop, please, I can’t take it!” Yu finally recovered from the shock of Yosuke actually _talking_ , and _to_ him nonetheless. He thrust _hard_ and watched Yosuke’s eyes roll into the back of his head. His hips twitched back against Yu’s hips, the action absolutely involuntary. “Fuuuuuck,” he moaned.

Once Yu found his rhythm again he lifted one hand away from Yosuke’s hips and slid it under his body, wrapping his fingers firmly around Yosuke’s very, very erect cock. Yosuke jolted and thrashed in Yu’s grip when he did, letting out a high-pitched yelp. Before tonight Yosuke had always gotten himself off at the end of their fucking. Yu had only ever touched him like this once, way back at the very beginning of their weird arrangement, but never again since. Until now, at least.

“Oh god, oh fuck, oh— ah, ah _ah_ —” Yosuke whined as Yu stroked him in time with his thrusts. Yosuke was arching his back now, head craned back and eyes unfocused as he desperately moved his hips back against Yu’s dick. He was close, Yu could tell. They’d done this same song and dance so many times that Yu almost knew Yosuke’s tells better than his own. He’d certainly seen more of Yosuke’s ass than his face in recent weeks, or it certainly seemed that way. He pounded away harder and harder, hips colliding with Yosuke’s ass as Yosuke feebly attempted to roll his hips against Yu’s thrusts. Then all of a sudden he gave a full-body shudder and his dick was throbbing in Yu’s hand as he came.

He shouted Yu’s name.

That wasn’t a first, but it was something he hadn’t heard during sex in a long, long time. It completely blindsided him, surprised him just how much he enjoyed hearing his best friend cry out his name like that. He buried himself to the hilt with one mighty thrust and came, filling the condom as he trembled and shook with the force of his orgasm. Yu let himself linger there for a while longer, riding out the aftershocks buried deep inside his friend, before he finally moved away. By the time he pulled out, Yosuke had already passed out. Yu made quick work of tying off the condom and cleaning himself and Yosuke up as best as he could. He shook his friend awake and coaxed him off of the bed long enough to change the sheets. Yosuke was out like a light again as soon as the new sheets were on the bed.

At first, when they’d first started this weird best friends with benefits situation, Yosuke had insisted on sleeping in the guest bedroom. He’d abandoned that very quickly in the face of the fact that he tended to pass right out after they had sex, and Yu rarely had the heart to move him once he was comfortable. It had taken Yosuke a while to get over his hangups about sleeping in the same bed as his friend — they could sleep together, apparently, but not _sleep_ together — but he’d gotten over himself eventually and learned to get cozy with Yu on nights like these.

Yu kept himself busy making dinner and cleaning up his apartment. He was used to Yosuke showing up later at night, not being bombarded as soon as he stepped through the door. It really threw off his routine.

Around the time Yosuke normally showed up with a bottle of saké, Yu made a decision. He texted his boss, apologizing for texting so late at night and informing him that he would be taking the next day off. It wasn’t an emergency, but he needed to take care of a friend. His boss was very understanding and generously told him he didn’t need to come in to work.

Yosuke was still asleep when Yu finally climbed into bed. He would likely stay asleep the whole night, if the amount of saké he’d had was any indication.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I...uh. Remember that promotion a few months ago?” he asked, finally looking up at Yu. Yu nodded. “Yeah, well, that was… Hey, please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t get that promotion because I worked hard or… or deserved it, even. I slept with my boss to get it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot gets moving in this chapter. Yosuke talks about the sexual assault he experienced at the hands of his former boss and others in positions of power at his former job, so heads up for that. But also, Rise and Naoto get involved, because Yosuke's friends all love him very much. And Naoto is non-binary because enby rights, baby!

Yu's assumptions were proven correct when he woke up the next morning. He hadn’t set an alarm, but he still woke up at his usual time. He did his usual morning routine, getting a quick shower and making breakfast for himself. He doubled the amount he made, making twice the amount of coffee as well. Yosuke claimed he wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but Yu knew that he usually drank coffee after a night of drinking.

Predictably, the smell of the coffee and breakfast lured his friend out into the kitchen. Unlike Yu who had showered and put on fresh clothes, Yosuke had definitely just rolled out of Yu’s bed and stumbled into the kitchen. His hair was a mess, and Yu could tell he’d merely pulled on the clothes he’d worn last night. Yosuke was around frequently enough that there were a few of his outfits stashed in Yu’s closet, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have options. He had a toothbrush and toothpaste and a hair brush in Yu’s bathroom, too, but had chosen to forego them. Things really must have been rough.

Yosuke sat down and sipped his coffee, and when Yu put a plate of bacon, eggs and toast down in front of him he tore into them like he was starving. He probably was, now that Yu considered it: he hadn’t eaten any sort of dinner, just passed out right after they’d had sex.

Yu said nothing as he ate his own breakfast quite a bit more slowly. He honestly didn’t know how to broach the subject without scaring Yosuke off. Yosuke finished off his food and drank the rest of the coffee.

“Thank you for the meal,” he said, quietly, with an affectionate smile. Yu returned it as best he could.

“Want to talk to me about last night?” he asked, finally. Yosuke sighed and let his head droop a bit, looking down at the surface of the table apprehensively.

“So, I’m in trouble,” he said. Yu nodded. Yosuke still didn’t look up. “I got fired.”

“I thought so,” Yu said, after a moment of silence.

Yosuke picked up his fork, fidgeting with it as he continued his explanation.

“I...uh. Remember that promotion a few months ago?” he asked, finally looking up at Yu. Yu nodded. “Yeah, well, that was… Hey, please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t get that promotion because I worked hard or… or deserved it, even. I slept with my boss to get it.”

Yu sucked in a breath in alarm. He certainly hadn’t been expecting that.

“I thought it was gonna be a one and done thing, y’know? Let the old bastard use my ass to get his rocks off, get promoted and be done with it. I… I guess I should have known better,” he confessed. “He threatened to demote me or fire me if I didn’t keep… well, you know.”

“Yosuke—” Yu started, but Yosuke shook his head.

“But it was— I told myself it was fine. It was only like once a week at first, and he always used a condom, and he wasn’t… he wasn’t so rough, at first. But he… He started asking for it more and more often, and he started getting rougher and rougher with me. And then he—” Yosuke had to stop to take a breath. His voice was starting to waver, and there were tears in his eyes that he seemed to be desperately holding back. “H-he, he got another one of the supervisors involved. And then another. And—and another.” He stopped there, dropping the fork and pressing his palms to his eyes to try to stop the tears. He was unsuccessful. Yu was shaking with anger and shock in his seat, gripping the table hard as he processed what Yosuke had just told him.

“Yesterday he wanted to do it without a condom. That was the last straw, I told him no and he fired me. And he said he’d get me blacklisted. I… I’m never gonna be able to work in the music industry again, Yu. I’m finished, I—” he sobbed. “I’m gonna have to go back to working at Junes for the rest of my life…”

Before he could really think about what he was doing, Yu had rounded the table and had wrapped Yosuke up in a hug. Yosuke shuddered and leaned into him, turning and burying his face in Yu’s chest as he finally, finally let himself cry.

Yu was furious. He was weighing the pros and cons of murdering Yosuke’s boss in cold blood.

“Do you have any proof?” Yu finally asked, after Yosuke’s sobbing had died down somewhat.

“N-no,” Yosuke managed to croak out in reply. “The agreement was all verbal, and it’s my word against his and the other supervisors.” Yosuke finally pulled away, righting himself in his chair and looking up at Yu, despair all over his face. “And I agreed to it, so…”

Yu took a deep breath and went back to his seat at the table. Yosuke looked back down at his empty plate.

“I hated it, when he fucked me,” Yosuke finally said, after a moment. His voice was very quiet. “It’s not like with you, where you can make my mind go blank… I couldn’t get away from it, with him, with _them_. I felt everything. It made me sick.”

“I’m sorry,” Yu said, after a moment. He was at a loss for words.

“Thank you for always… For never turning me down when I ask for it,” Yosuke finally said. “It reminds me that sex can feel good.” He sighed. Then he looked over at the clock and back to Yu with a questioning look on his face. “Hey, shouldn’t you be leaving for work?”

“I took the day off,” Yu replied. “To take care of you.”

“Partner, you don’t have to—” Yosuke started to protest.

“I want to, though. I’ve been worried, Yosuke, and last night you _really_ worried me,” Yu explained. Yosuke looked pained.

“S-sorry,” he said, and Yu shook his head.

“Don’t apologize. I’m happy to do it. Yosuke, you’re my best friend, I want to do whatever I can to help you,” he said. “Honestly, if I thought I could get away with it, I’d straight up murder your boss.” Yosuke snorted.

“I’d help you,” he said. He had a faint smile when he looked up at Yu. “Well, thanks. For taking care of me last night, and for this morning, and…” He trailed off with a sigh. “For always taking care of me, really, ever since high school.”

“Of course,” Yu said. “Now, why don’t you get a shower and some fresh clothes?”

“...that sounds good,” Yosuke said. With a nod. “Do you want help with the dishes first?”

“Go shower,” Yu said, making a shooing motion at him. He nodded and headed for Yu’s room. Yu cleaned up the remains of breakfast and made himself another cup of coffee.

Was there anything he could do, in this situation? Other than offering support? As much as he was considering it, going after Yosuke’s boss wasn’t a solution, unless he had some way of forcing the man to confess to his crimes. If Yosuke had been blacklisted like he said, that really did limit his options. He was as good as dead to the music industry here in Tokyo, and possibly elsewhere.

Surely, Yosuke wasn’t the only one being sexually abused like that by his boss, or even in the company in general. But would anybody talk? Getting a case together wouldn’t be easy, if it was even possible...

Yosuke re-emerged nearly an hour later from what undoubtedly was a long, hot shower. His skin was pink and raw, his hair was damp, and he was wearing one of his ‘emergency’ outfits from out of Yu’s closet: a pair of old, beaten up black jeans and an equally old shirt promoting a band Yu hadn’t heard of before seeing the shirt and hadn’t seen anything about since. It was some obscure American band, Yosuke had told him once. He slid into the same seat at the table and folded his hands together on the surface.

“So, I have a couple of ideas, but I wanted to run them by you first,” Yu said. He went to the fridge and got a can of Dr. Salt Neo out, sliding it across the table to his friend. Yosuke took it gratefully, popping it open and chugging nearly the whole can.

“Thanks, Partner. Whew, I was thirsty!” he said. Yu nodded.

“Want another?” he asked, but Yosuke shook his head. “Okay. First, I want to call Rise. She can probably find out if you’re actually blacklisted or not without causing any suspicion.”

“That’s… true, but I don’t…” he trailed off, looking helpless. Yu nodded.

“I know you probably don’t want anyone else to know about this. We don’t have to tell Rise everything, but I’m sure she can help,” Yu said. Yosuke nodded, hesitantly.

“I trust her,” he finally said.

“Alright,” Yu replied. He waited until Yosuke was looking up at him before he continued. “And… I want you to move in with me here, at least for a little while.”

“What?” Yosuke asked, jaw dropping. “I can’t impose on you like that, Partner!”

“You wouldn’t be imposing on me,” Yu said. “You’re over here often enough anyway, for starters. And… I don’t want to alarm you, Yosuke, but your boss has your address. We don’t know if he’s going to try anything. It would make me feel better if you weren’t alone right now.”

“But I—” Yosuke started. Yu shook his head.

“I’m sure that even on a manager’s salary, you can’t pay rent on your apartment working at Junes,” he continued. “This would save you on rent until you figure out what you’re going to do.”

“Yeah…” Yosuke sighed. “But, still, I—”

“Let me help you, damn it,” Yu finally said, putting his hands on the table and standing up. Yosuke looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Please, Yosuke, let me do this, let me do _something_.”

“You already do so much…” Yosuke replied, lamely. He sighed. “Putting up with me always coming over here with alcohol and always bothering you for sex…”

“Yosuke, _please_ ,” Yu said. Yosuke was quiet, staring down at the table. Finally, he looked up. He looked hesitant, but he finally nodded.

“Alright, but only until I get my shit together,” he said. “And… and I’ll help you pay rent while I’m here.”

“You don’t have to,” Yu said, but Yosuke shook his head, with a laugh.

“Partner, I’m not just going to live in your apartment for free,” he said. Yu sighed.

“Okay, sure,” he agreed. He had no intention of actually taking Yosuke’s money, but he wasn’t going to tell him that. He grabbed his cell phone off of the table where he’d left it. “I’m going to call Rise.”

“ _Now_?” Yosuke asked, looking a little panicked.

“I understand if you aren’t ready, but the sooner we deal with all of this the better, you know,” Yu replied, already navigating to Rise’s contact information in his phone. His thumb hovered over the ‘call’ button. Yosuke still looked hesitant, but he nodded. Yu pressed ‘call’. “Want this on speakerphone?”

“I guess, sure,” Yosuke answered, looking down at the table. He groaned. “I mean, I’d rather not be having this conversation at all, but…” Yu nodded. He switched the conversation over to speaker phone and set his phone down on the table between them, sitting back down at his seat. His second cup of coffee was still half full, so he took a swig.

“Senpaiiiiiii~!” Rise’s voice rose out of the phone after only a few rings. “OMG you never call on a weekday! To what do I owe this honor??”

“Hello, Rise. First, I should warn you that you’re on speaker phone,” Yu said.

“Ohhh? Who else is there?” she asked, sounding excited but a little suspicious.

“Hiya, Rise,” Yosuke spoke up, still sounding hesitant.

“Oh! Yosuke-senpai! I haven’t heard from you in ages, how are you?!” she gasped. Yu looked over at Yosuke, who bit his lip and looked like he didn’t know what to say.

“Uh… well, I wish I could say I was doing well…” he started.

“You aren’t sick, are you?!” she demanded.

“No, but…” he looked up at Yu, at a loss.

“Yosuke’s in some trouble,” Yu spoke up for him.

“Oh no, what’s wrong?! Do you need bail money? An alibi? Do you need someone murdered?” she asked, clearly joking.

“Well, maybe,” Yu replied. “Actually, if you don’t mind, we need some information that I think you can get for us…”

Yu explained the situation, trying to give as few details as possible to save on Yosuke’s embarrassment. Yosuke still squirmed, clearly uncomfortable, while he explained. By the end, Rise was audibly enraged.

“I was joking earlier, but if you need an alibi…” she trailed off.

“No, Rise,” Yu admonished.

“Aww, okay,” she replied, pout audible. “But, seriously. That’s horrible. I’ll see what I can find out from my contacts but… you know who you should get in touch with? Naoto. I’m sure they’d be able to help you out.”

Yosuke looked visibly pained at the idea of having to tell another person about the situation, but Yu thought it was a good idea.

“I’ll get in touch with them. Thanks, Rise,” he said.

“Sure, anything for two of you. And I mean it, Yosuke-senpai!” she said.

“...thanks, Rise,” Yosuke finally said.

They sat in silence for a little bit after the phone call ended.

“So, I know you don’t want to tell anyone else, but Naoto really could be a big help, here,” Yu finally said. Yosuke groaned.

“Yeah, I know. I just don’t want _all_ of our old friends to know about how I fucked up and slept with my boss,” Yosuke lamented. He suddenly snorted. “I’m sure Kanji would think it’s hilarious, after how I treated him back in high school…”

“Kanji would help us hide the body,” Yu retorted. “You know that.”

“Yeah, yeah. Man. Not to sound too much like that bastard Adachi, but I kinda wish I could just shove my boss into the TV world and let the Shadows take care of him…”

“It’s a shame the Phantom Thieves aren’t operating any more. This would be right up their alley,” Yu added. He hesitated, before continuing. “Yosuke, do you know anyone else at the company that might have a… similar arrangement with your boss? Maybe if we get enough people to talk, we could—”

“God, I _hope_ nobody else,” Yosuke replied. Yu could almost see his stomach metaphorically dropping as he considered the possibility. “Ugh, _god_ , if Naoto _does_ find other people that bastard is doing this to, _please_ don’t tell me, I don’t want to think about it…”

“If we can get enough people to testify against him, we might be able to take him to court. Get some justice, for you and any other potential victims,” Yu pointed out. Yosuke sighed.

“Okay,” he said. “But I seriously hope I’m the only one he’s done this to. I don’t want to think about any of my coworkers having to…” he trailed off, looking visibly sick. He swallowed a few times, enough that Yu got up and got him another can of soda. He looked grateful, chugging it just like the first can. “Better call Naoto, huh? The sooner the sooner, right?”

“If you’re up for it,” Yu answered. Yosuke shook his head.

“I’m not, but I guess it’s like ripping off a band-aid,” he said. Yu nodded and navigated to Naoto’s contact information.

The call with Naoto was a lot more clinical. The detective was audibly angered by the situation, just like Rise had been, but it wasn’t as obvious. Yu only noticed because years of friendship with them had clued him in to their tells.

“I don’t normally handle cases like this,” Naoto said, in conclusion. “This is outside of my jurisdiction, to be frank. I may need to get some other detectives involved… is that alright, Yosuke-senpai?”

“Sure,” he replied. “As long as they aren’t also old friends from high school.”

“They aren’t,” Naoto said, and either they missed the joke or just weren’t in a joking mood. “I’ll do everything I can to bring this man to justice, senpai. You have my word. But…” They paused to take a breath. “I’ll need you to come to the station and sign some statements. Even if you don’t have any physical evidence, your first-hand accounts will be valuable nonetheless.”

“Okay,” Yosuke sighed. “I can do that, today I guess.”

“And I am going to strongly urge you to either get a hotel room or stay with Yu-senpai for at least a week or two,” Naoto said. Yu grinned, meeting Yosuke’s eyes with a nod, trying to say ‘see, I told you so’ without saying anything. Yosuke rolled his eyes, but nodded.

“He’s going to be staying here at my apartment for the time being,” Yu said.

“Good. It could very well be dangerous to stay at your address, senpai. Especially once we start digging around at the company and looking to press charges. Who knows what your boss or the other supervisors might do.” Naoto informed them.

“I guess we’re going by my place to get my things later today,” Yosuke replied. He gave a mirthless chuckle. “Good thing I’m always too broke to afford anything. That’s less to move, huh?” He met Yu’s eyes for a second, but must not have liked what he saw there, because he ducked his head back down. “And… thanks, Naoto. It means a lot that you’d go out of your way to help me like this.”

“For a member of the old Investigation Team? It’s nothing,” Naoto replied, but Yu thought they sounded a bit embarrassed. “Let me know when to expect you at the station. Yu-senpai should know how to get here.”

“I do,” Yu confirmed. They ended the call and sat in silence for a few moments.

“You can have the guest bedroom for now,” Yu said, standing up and pocketing his phone. “We really should at least go get what you might need to stay here for a week or two at minimum. Do you have a suitcase?”

“Yeah, I have a suitcase,” Yosuke confirmed with a roll of his eyes. “And the rent’s paid through the end of the month, so I’ve got three weeks before I have to worry about that.”

“Good,” Yu said. “Maybe it’s foolish optimism, but hopefully things will be resolved before then…”

“Yeah. Probably not, but you never know, right? At least we’ve got a world-class detective on our side,” Yosuke replied.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. They took Yu’s car to Yosuke’s apartment, where the two of them packed all of Yosuke’s video games and music collection into one suitcase and three week’s worth of clothes into another. Yu took note of the furniture there, mentally trying to figure out if he could get all of it into his own apartment in case Yosuke became more of a permanent fixture. They got lunch, Yu’s treat, and headed to the station where Naoto worked. Over the course of several hours, statements were taken and printed and signed by Yosuke, who did his best to keep his cool. By the time they were done there it was dinner time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rise and Naoto surprise Yosuke with food and drinks and a night of distractions. Yu and Yosuke talk a little more about what happened. Feelings are discussed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a breather chapter.

For the second day in a row, Yu opened the door to his apartment to a surprise.

“Surprise!” Rise exclaimed, jumping up from the couch excitedly. “I brought over dinner, and dessert, and snacks, and some wine! And Naoto’s coming over, too!”

“Just how many people have keys to your apartment, Partner?” Yosuke asked, frowning.

“Just you and Rise,” Yu answered, smoothly. “Uh, Rise—”

“I know, I know, but listen, it was a cinch to convince my coworkers that we all needed a night off. And I’m really worried about you, Yosuke-senpai!” Rise argued. Yosuke sighed.

“Thank you, Rise,” he answered. He then moved past her through the living room and over to Yu’s spare room, where he set down the two absolutely stuffed suitcases he’d been carrying. Yu followed him into the room, also dropping the several heavy bags of Yosuke’s things that he’d carried up from the car. Yosuke sank down onto the bed and put his head in his hands.

“I don’t know if I can deal with this tonight,” he admitted. Yu came to sit beside him, prompting him to continue. “It’s been a hell of a day, and I feel like I’m rubbed all raw inside…”

“I’ll tell Rise to come back another night,” Yu offered, but Yosuke shook his head.

“No, no, that’s not…” he paused and heaved another sigh. “I think I need the distraction, and for once I don’t want to get piss drunk or have you fuck my brains out.” He turned to Yu. “It’ll be nice with Rise here, almost like old times.” Yu nodded.

“Good. I’m glad you see it that way,” he said. He paused. “Maybe we can get everyone from Inaba on a video chat or something. That could be fun.”

“As long as we don’t tell them about what’s happening with my boss,” Yosuke groaned, flopping onto his back on the bed. “ _Former_ boss. Ex boss. I gotta stop calling that piece of human garbage my boss.”

“That’s the spirit,” Yu said. He stood up. “Need a few minutes?”

“Yeah, at least to unpack a little. I’ll come out when Naoto gets here,” Yosuke said.

“Okay. Take your time to rest, you’ve had a long day,” Yu suggested, and Yosuke snorted.

“So have you,” he shot back. Yu shrugged.

“Fair enough. At least I don’t have to cook tonight,” he pointed out, and Yosuke gave a small chuckle. It warmed Yu’s heart a little, hearing him finally actually laughing again. He stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him. There were still more of Yosuke’s things crammed into Yu’s little car, but he knew they could worry about them later.

“Is everything okay with Yosuke-senpai?” Rise asked as he re-entered the living room area. He nodded.

“Yeah, he’s just worn out from today and needs a little time to himself. He said he’ll come out when Naoto gets here,” he answered. Rise gave a sigh of relief.

“Good. I was worried I’d overstepped my bounds, coming here and bringing all this food, but I just couldn’t help it! Yosuke’s an important friend, you know?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Yu said, casting a glance in the direction of the spare room. “I do know.”

He and Rise unpacked all the bags of food and drink Rise had brought with her, chatting about their lives and jobs all the while. By the time they had finished laying out the spread of food the doorbell rang. It was Naoto, naturally. They stepped inside, and Yu took a bag from them, eyeing the contents while they took off their shoes. Another bottle, this time an expensive looking champagne.

“Ooh, fancy!” Rise chirped as Yu pulled it out of the bag and set it on the counter next to the bottle of plum wine that she had brought. He pulled two large bowls out of the cabinet and started to fill them with ice to chill the two wines.

“I didn’t want to come empty-handed, and I felt we could all use the distraction,” Naoto explained. They finally entered the apartment proper and saw the generous spread of food and drinks in Yu’s kitchen. One slim blue eyebrow raised. “Ah, I see I was not the only one with that train of thought. Did you bring all of this, Rise?”

“Guilty!” Rise said with a huge grin.

Evidently having heard the doorbell, Yosuke emerged from the guest bedroom. Naoto nodded to him in greeting, and he nodded back. Then he too spotted the vast assortment of foods and drinks littered across Yu’s kitchen cabinets and dining table and made a whistling noise.

“Wow, you all really outdid yourselves,” he said, his mouth tugging up into a grin. “You really know how to make a guy feel better.”

“That’s the idea!” Rise exclaimed. “We’re all gonna stuff ourselves full of good food and drink some good drinks, and then watch a movie or two! It’ll be fun, just like when we were back in Inaba!”

“Speaking of which,” Yu interjected. “I asked everyone back in Inaba if they were free tonight. Kanji is going to try to get in contact with Teddie, and Chie said that Yukiko might be able to pry herself away from the Inn for a little while, too.”

“That’s great!” Rise said. Yu turned to Yosuke.

“They _are_ wondering what has prompted us to all meet up like this. I’m not going to tell them anything you don’t want me telling them…” he trailed off with a shrug. Yosuke nodded.

“Just tell them I’m having some trouble at work. If they want more details, tell them to ask _me_ about it,” Yosuke replied, with a sigh. He shook his head and plastered a grin back on his face. “Well alright then, guys gals and nonbinary pals, let’s get to eating. I’m starving!”

The impromptu party was actually quite fun. They chatted with everyone still back in Inaba for a while, catching up on what was happening in the little town, in their various jobs, and Teddie even gave them a rundown on what was happening in the TV world (not much these days). After that they all squished onto Yu’s couch at Rise’s insistence, with Yosuke firmly in the middle. Throughout the whole night, Yu carefully watched over Yosuke, making sure he wasn’t having too much to drink. After the fourth or fifth time he asked, Yosuke rolled his eyes.

“Partner, you don’t have to mother-bird me all night. I’m drinking at the same pace as Naoto, so you don’t have to worry,” he said. Naoto looked like they were going to object, but just shook their head. They were a notorious lightweight, after all. Yu was mollified by this. And, true to his word, Yosuke really _did_ go light on the drinking. He and Yu were probably both thinking of the previous night, of how Yosuke had been too drunk to even get himself off. Yu knew he never wanted to see his friend get that drunk ever again. Though, he had to admit to himself, it _had_ led to some very interesting sex, to say the least…

It was late but not too terribly late by the time Rise and Naoto decided it was time to leave. Well, Naoto decided to leave, and being the least intoxicated of the two by leaps and bounds, they made the decision for Rise. Yu and Yosuke saw them both off to the nearby train station and then headed back to Yu’s apartment to clean up after the party. Or rather, Yosuke _tried_ to help clean up and Yu insisted that he go get some sleep instead.

“It’s really not that much to clean up,” Yu insisted. “Go sleep, Yosuke. You’ve earned it.” Yosuke huffed out a breath but nodded.

“Alright, alright. Good night, Partner,” he said.

“Good night, Yosuke,” Yu returned. He then busied around his kitchen, shoveling food into plastic containers and expertly stacking the containers in his fridge. They’d mostly finished the bottle of champagne, but there was a little bit left. Not wanting it to go to waste, Yu chugged it. He put the now empty glass bottle in the sink to soak overnight, put the half empty plum wine in the fridge, and stacked all of the used dishes on the side of the sink in neat rows. He’d wash them in the morning while he made breakfast. He looked at the clock and contemplated asking his boss if he could come in after lunch, but ultimately decided not to. As long as he wasn’t up for too much longer, he’d be fine to go in at his normal time.

Just as he was making his way to his bedroom, he heard the door to the guest room squeak open, and turned to face a grim-looking Yosuke.

“What is it?” he asked, and Yosuke sighed. He stepped into the living room and made his way over to where Yu was standing.

“I don’t think I can sleep tonight,” he admitted, frowning. “I tried, but every time I started to drift off I’d think about… well, everything.”

“Do you need to forget?” Yu asked.

“Well, yes, but…” he looked down at the floor. “I don’t wanna… I don’t want you to think I need sex all the time or anything.” He looked back up. “And if you don’t want to do it then obviously I—”

Yu didn’t know what compelled him to, but he stepped forward and grabbed Yosuke’s face in both of his hands, gently but firmly steering him into a kiss. Yosuke gasped and Yu could feel him freeze, prompting him to immediately let go and back away. Yosuke blinked at him in surprise for a few seconds, then he bit his lip, eyebrows drawing together as a strange look passed over his face.

“Sorry,” Yu stammered. “Sorry, I think this time _I’ve_ had too much to drink—”

“It’s… fine,” Yosuke managed to croak out. He frowned again. ‘Yu, I… What did that mean to you?”

“What do you mean?” Yu asked. He was a little worried by the fact that Yosuke had used his name and not ‘Partner’ for once in… he didn’t even know how long, really. Yosuke took a deep breath and let it out all the way before he continued, looking serious.

“Look, I know I’m not exactly shy about letting people use my body,” he said. He snorted. “I mean, would I be in this situation if I was? Of course not.” He stopped and shook his head. “But no matter how many people I sleep with, I never let them kiss me. That’s… that’s for someone special.”

“Oh,” Yu said. He could feel his heart breaking, but valiantly managed to keep it off of his face, or at least he hoped that was what was happening. “Sorry. I didn’t know.” Yosuke shook his head.

“What did that kiss mean to you, Partner?” he asked again, looking up and meeting Yu’s eyes. The sheer _vulnerability_ on his face hit Yu like a ton of bricks. He swallowed.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Yu admitted. “It’s a special thing for me too. I don’t just go around kissing everyone.” Yosuke closed his eyes and bowed his head a little, and Yu could hear his breathing get rapid and shallow, obviously starting to panic. It was now or never, he guessed. He thought back to the hundreds, probably _thousands_ of times before that he’d wished he’d had the courage to just tell Yosuke the truth. Maybe it was foolish, maybe the timing was all wrong, maybe he was about to chase off his best friend at the worst possible time… but he had to act. He _had_ to say it.

“Yosuke, I’m sorry if this is the wrong time to be saying this, but I really, really like you,” he said. Yosuke didn’t move. Yu continued, nervous. His mouth was so dry. “I have for a long time. Since high school. I understand if you don’t feel the same way, and I want you to know that you don’t have to leave, and you don’t have to stop asking me for sex, and you don’t have to—”

His increasingly panicked speech was abruptly stopped by Yosuke’s lips. Oh. Yosuke was kissing him. Yosuke had his hands on Yu’s face, a complete mirror of how Yu had kissed him earlier, and Yosuke was _kissing_ him and that meant—

_Oh_. That meant a lot of things, didn’t it?

He acted on instinct, because the fact that Yosuke was _kissing him_ had rendered most of his higher brain functions completely null. He wrapped his arms around Yosuke’s shoulders and kissed him back. Yosuke made a pleased noise into the kiss and leaned into him, hands moving to link behind Yu’s neck and letting Yu support him. Tongues met, and Yu could still taste the plum wine in Yosuke’s mouth. It was intoxicating. He’d been wanting this for so long and he wasn’t even a little disappointed. He _was_ disappointed, though, when they finally ran out of air and had to separate. Panting for air, Yosuke was looking up at him fondly and Yu felt butterflies the likes of which he’d never felt before. It dawned on him that he’d finally done it, he’d finally confessed his feelings, _and Yosuke reciprocated_.

“I’ve been so afraid of letting people get too close to me,” Yosuke said. He wasn’t moving to let go, so Yu didn’t either. “This whole time, I didn’t want a relationship because I didn’t want to inevitably say or do something stupid and ruin it.” He took a deep breath and finally pulled away, Yu letting him go and watching as he took a few steps back. He folded his arms and his shoulders hunched defensively. “And to tell you the truth, I still don’t. I don’t want to do something and ruin this, this…” he gestured to the space between the two of them. “Whatever this is we have going.”

“You won’t,” Yu replied, and Yosuke shook his head.

“I’ve fucked around with so many people since I came to Tokyo, and every single time things went sour with them I came to you,” he said, with a mirthless chuckle. “You always put up with it, but I could tell you didn’t like how much I slept around. But you still let me keep coming back to you,” he said, with a shake of his head. “I don’t deserve you, Partner. I really don’t.”

“I’ll admit, I was jealous and frustrated,” Yu said. “But it isn’t like I didn’t sleep around too.”

“Not like me, you didn’t,” Yosuke spat, turning away. He folded his arms a little tighter. “And you didn’t sleep with your fucking _boss_.”

“You said it yourself, you thought it would be a one time deal,” Yu said. He cautiously took a step toward Yosuke, watching for any sign that he was going to flinch away. Yosuke just looked at the floor. “And he pressured you into it. You’re not at fault, Yosuke. _None_ of that was your fault.” Another step, and Yosuke didn’t move.

“I could have stopped it, though! I could have stopped it any time, but I kept letting him… I kept letting _them_ do it,” Yosuke argued, his voice rising a little in volume. Yu crossed the remaining space between them and threw his arms around the other man. Yosuke flinched but didn’t move.

“It was a bad situation,” Yu reminded him. “You thought your job was on the line, and obviously you were right to think that. It wasn’t your fault.” Yosuke was silent for a second, shaking in Yu’s grasp. He let his forehead drop to rest on Yu’s shoulder, but his arms remained folded, and he remained tense. In fact, he was getting tenser than ever.

“It was horrible,” he said into Yu’s shoulder. “It was awful. But… part of me… kind of liked it.”

Yu was silent, taking small, inaudible breaths as he processed what Yosuke had admitted.

“It’s disgusting, I know. I hate myself for it, but being used like that was… _incredible_.” he paused, continuing to tremble. His breathing was getting quicker and quicker as he seemed to panic. “I felt… it felt good to be _wanted_ like that, to be _needed_ like that. But, god, I _hate_ myself for feeling like that.”

“Yosuke,” Yu started, but Yosuke shifted in his grip, arms uncrossing and wrapping around him, fingers burying themselves in the back of his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” Yosuke whimpered. Yu could feel wetness on his shoulder now. Yosuke was crying. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know I’m disgusting, I know I shouldn’t feel that way, but I just—”

“You’re not—” Yu tried to interrupt, but Yosuke just continued.

“It was the same with all the other people I’ve slept with,” he said. “I didn’t really like any of them, I just liked the fact that they _wanted_ me. It was…” he stopped for a second, and Yu was silent, letting him collect his thoughts. “It’s not like that with you. I never… It was never about _you_ wanting _me_. It was about me being selfish and you letting me satisfy myself.” He sighed. “I’m terrible, aren’t I? Using you like that...I’m so sorry, Yu, I—”

“Stop,” Yu said. His voice was firm, but his tone was gentle. Yosuke tensed, hands clenching the fabric of the back of Yu’s shirt. Yu continued, tone gentle. “If you think you were just using me this whole time, then I’ve been using you just as much.”

“What?” Yosuke asked, finally looking up. His face was wet and his eyes were red, he’d definitely been crying. He looked _bewildered_.

“Do you really think I didn’t get anything out of this arrangement?” Yu continued. “Out of all the times we’ve had sex? If you were using me, the feeling is mutual.”

“I… I, um,” Yosuke floundered.

“And believe me when I say _I want you_ ,” Yu continued. “I’ve wanted you all along. I just tried really, really hard not to show how much I’ve always wanted you, because I didn’t want to scare you off. I’ve watched you cut people out of your life, and I didn’t want that to happen to me, so I—”

“I would _never_ do that to you,” Yosuke blurted out. “Are you kidding me? You’re my oldest friend, my best friend… dude, we caught a killer together, _saved the world together_ , I wouldn’t…” he trailed off with a sigh. “But… yeah, I can see why you’d be worried about that.” He looked sheepish. He let go of the death grip on Yu’s shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Yu murmured. “Not about stuff like this, anyway.” Yosuke let out a little sigh. “And you don’t have to be ashamed, Yosuke. The human libido is complicated and stupid, and you can’t always control what it wants.”

“But I just… can’t reconcile knowing that I hated what was happening, but also knowing that part of me liked it,” Yosuke said. He pulled away from Yu, but didn’t move back this time. “It makes me feel terrible, like I’m a bad person.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Yu asked. Yosuke looked confused.

“I already have,” he pointed out. Yu shook his head.

“I’m no therapist, but I think if you talked about it — _really_ talked about it — you’d feel better,” he said. Yosuke frowned.

“What, give you a full play-by-play? Tell you exactly who put their dick where?” Yosuke asked, sounding a little ticked off. Yu put his hands up, palms out.

“If that would make you feel better,” Yu said. Yosuke’s frown deepened. “But only if you think that. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. To be honest I’d rather _not_ know, because it will only make it harder to not find out where your boss lives and go burn his house down.” That made Yosuke’s frown turn into a small smile, and that made Yu feel powerful, if even for a moment. “But sometimes getting things out of your head can help. It can take away power from those thoughts. It can help you reframe what happened.”

Yosuke was silent for a while, before nodding.

“Alright. I think… yeah, okay,” he said. He sounded tired, but determined. He glanced at the clock on the kitchen stove. “But don’t you need to get some sleep? You have work tomorrow, don’t you?” Yu also glanced at the time and winced a little. He reached into his pocket and fished out his phone.

“I was already considering asking if I can come in after lunch. I don’t think my boss will mind his hardest worker taking a little more time off,” he said.

“As long as you’re sure it’s alright,” Yosuke said, sounding hesitant. He typed a quick message to his boss, again apologizing for how late it was and asking permission to come in late. He received a response almost immediately letting him know it wasn’t a problem.

“Done,” he said, and Yosuke raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” he asked, and Yu nodded.

“My boss is basically glued to his phone for all of his waking life,” Yu answered, with a shrug. “Not very healthy, but convenient when I have to ask to come in late.” He looked at Yosuke seriously. “Now, why don’t we get some coffee and sit on the couch?”

“I think I’d rather have more plum wine,” Yosuke admitted. Yu gave him a stern look and he held up his hands in a surrender gesture. “But sure, I’ll take some coffee. It’s not like I was gonna be able to sleep anyway.”


	4. YOU CAN SKIP THIS CHAPTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some prompting, Yosuke goes into detail about just what happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason for the majority of the content warnings. It is not necessary to read this chapter, so if non-con/rape isn't your jam I would recommend skipping it. I'll be uploading chapter 5 immediately after uploading this one, so nobody will have to wait for a week.

Yu brewed them two cups of coffee and set some snacks down on the coffee table in front of them. He was still very full from the party and he was sure Yosuke was, too, but he put them out anyway just in case. Tucking a foot under the opposite thigh and settling back against one of the couch pillows, Yu turned to face Yosuke. Yosuke was quick to mirror him, settling back and looking at least a little less tense than before.

“I… don’t really know where to start,” Yosuke admitted. Yu nodded.

“You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to. Just tell me whatever you want. Tell me what he… tell me what _they_ did to you, Yosuke,” Yu instructed. Yosuke was quiet for a minute, sipping his coffee and looking nervous. “I won’t judge you for any of it. You’re a _victim_. It’s not like you wanted it to happen.”

“I didn’t,” Yosuke said on an exhale. “You’re right, I really didn’t want it, but I felt like I didn’t really have a choice, you know?” Yu nodded, and Yosuke continued. “Okay. Okay, uh. It was… I was working late one day. I was listening to music and really in the swing of things, so I didn’t notice that all of my other coworkers all went home. My boss came by to tell me that he had to stay as long as I stayed. He didn’t seem mad about it, he said it just kind of jokingly…” Yosuke paused, took a sip of his coffee. “He hung around while I finished up, y’know, made sure I’d saved all my work and shut down the computer and stuff. As I was getting ready to leave, he asked me… Asked me if I was interested in doing him a little favor in exchange for a promotion.” Yosuke gave a halfhearted chuckle. “I should’ve said no. At the time I _knew_ I should’ve said no, but I thought… well, what’s the harm in hearing him out, at least? What if it was something totally innocent?”

“So I followed him to his office. He looked at me point blank and said that if I was willing to let him fuck me he’d make sure I got that promotion. I was shocked, of course. I was shocked that he was propositioning me like that, but also… I was shocked he was propositioning _me_. Out of all the people he supervised, _me_? It was oddly flattering. And the promotion would be _really_ nice. I could maybe afford furniture,” Yosuke said with another halfhearted laugh. “That’s what I was thinking at the time. And it wasn’t like he locked the door or tied me up or anything. It was entirely my choice. He even told me I could leave and my job wouldn’t be in jeopardy as long as I didn’t mention the conversation to anyone.”

“So you went through with it?” Yu prompted after a moment of silence. Yosuke nodded.

“I told him yes. He grabbed some lube and a condom out of his desk drawer,” Yosuke explained. “That should’ve been the first red flag, now that I’m thinking about it, but at the time I was so nervous it didn’t even occur to me.” Yu nodded for him to continue. “Anyway, he let me, uh, prepare myself, and then he… He bent me over his desk and fucked me. And once he’d gotten his rocks off in my ass, he told me to wait a few days and I was as good as promoted.”

“And you got promoted,” Yu said.

“And I got promoted,” Yosuke replied. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “That first paycheck after my promotion, though? It made it feel totally worth it. It really seemed win-win. My boss was having problems with his wife and was probably really sexually frustrated. I thought I was helping, y’know? What harm was there in letting the old guy use my ass for a few minutes? Nobody found out and it looked like I got that promotion naturally. He even praised all the hard work I’d been doing and brought up all the nights I stayed late. Honestly, I _did_ deserve that promotion.” Here, he looked a little indignant, eyes bright.

“And then a few weeks later I was working late again, and I got an email from my boss asking me to meet him in his office. He asked if he could fuck me again. I told him that I’d already gotten the promotion and wasn’t ready to be promoted again, but he said I wasn’t getting another promotion for a while. He told me he could have me demoted easily. I panicked. I asked him how often he expected me to do this, and he told me every week or so. I thought about how nice the pay was, how it felt like I was really living up to my full potential in the new role. It was fun, well as fun as _work_ can be anyway.”

“I thought, what was the harm in letting the old guy keep using me like that? Sure, the sex with him hadn’t been _great_ but it wasn’t like it had _hurt_ or anything. And honestly, I’d been fucking around with other people so often, what was adding another person? So he bent me over his desk and fucked me again, and told me to plan to stay late on Tuesdays from then on.”

Yu sucked in a breath in both alarm and understanding. Yosuke _had_ started showing up on Tuesdays with a bottle of saké. And he _had_ noticed that it was a little easier to push into him on those nights too. Yosuke saw the comprehension dawning on Yu’s face and looked down.

“Sorry,” he said. “I would’ve told you that you were getting that asshole’s sloppy seconds, but I needed… I needed some _good_ sex, and I didn’t want you to… I don’t know, throw me out, or something. And I always made him wear a condom.”

“I…” Yu started. He didn’t know exactly how he was feeling. Disgusted? Yes, but almost entirely with Yosuke’s boss. Insulted? A little. Angry? Yes. Mostly angry. “I wouldn’t have thrown you out.”

“I know,” Yosuke sighed. “I know, and that’s why I came to you and not anybody else.” Another sip of his coffee. “Anyway. It went on like that for a while, but one Tuesday night I walked into his office to find another one of the supervisors there too. I thought maybe they had actually called me there to have a talk about my performance, but the other guy, well… He went and locked the door behind me. Boss told me that I’d been too loud the previous week and the other supervisor had found out about us... and he wanted in. I tried to say that more than one person wasn’t part of the deal, but my boss pointed out that the agreement was all verbal.”

“I was really panicking and about to quit right then and there, but I didn’t want to lose my job. And they said something about giving me a big bonus if I went along with it. Boss told me to get down on my hands and knees, and I did. I’d thought that maybe they wanted to take turns with my ass, but no. My boss… fucked me from behind, and the other guy made me give him a blowjob. It… it wasn’t great. Y’know, I think I’m pretty damn good at blowjobs, but it’s hard to give it your best when you’re being forced to do it,” he said.

“Yosuke…” Yu breathed. He was both upset and angry. Yosuke looked up at him and shook his head.

“Have you heard enough, yet?” he asked, and Yu bit his lip.

“Is this helping?” Yu asked, and Yosuke took a minute to think about it.

“I… yeah. I think it is helping. You’re right, having to talk about it is making me… what did you say earlier, recontextualize?” Yu nodded. “I’ve been thinking about everything like it was something that happened to me because I let it happen, or because I deserved what I got, but you’re totally right, Yu. I _am_ a victim.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re seeing things that way now,” Yu said. “Do you want to continue, or…?”

“Can you handle hearing more? You looked really upset a minute ago,” Yosuke pointed out. Yu nodded.

“I’m furious about what they did to you,” he admitted. “But if you need to get all of this out, keep going. I’ll be fine. Angry, but fine.”

“Okay,” Yosuke said, taking a longer sip of his coffee. He hesitated, but continued.

“It was like that for a while. Sometimes it would be just my boss, sometimes that supervisor would be there. Then there was another supervisor, one that I hadn’t even met. He said he wanted in on the action. I told them that if they wanted to do double penetration in my ass I was quitting on the spot, and they just laughed and said they’d be taking turns.” Yu gripped his coffee cup a little harder, but nodded for Yosuke to continue.

“They bent me over the desk and fucked me one after the other after the other. It… well, I’ve had some wild sex, but never three guys back-to-back. It didn’t exactly hurt but _boy_ was I sore. And the worst part was I couldn’t even get off— my boss said that if I got cum on his desk or his carpet he was going to fire me. And—” he stopped himself with a sigh, looking into his mostly empty coffee cup. “I hate this, but getting fucked like that got me _really_ hard. And it wasn’t like they were quiet or anything, they all told me about how good my ass felt, how much of a slut I was for getting hard…” he stopped again, shaking his head.

“Between how much they fucked my ass and how hard I was, I couldn’t walk home. I had to stop and get myself off in one of the employee toilets and call a cab home. I would’ve come here, but I think I would’ve thrown up if I’d had to look at any more dick that night, even if it was yours.”

“That’s—” Yu started, and Yosuke held up a hand to stop him.

“If you think _that’s_ bad, just wait,” he said. “It gets worse.” Yu felt like his blood turned to ice, and then went straight from that to _boiling_. Yosuke lifted an eyebrow at his expression. “Do you still want me to keep going?”

“Yes— no — yes, I…” Yu took a moment to calm down. “It’s important to get it all out. But I want to suffocate every single one of your supervisors with a live python right now, to be honest.” Yosuke looked down at his mug contemplatively. He drank the rest in one mighty gulp.

“More coffee?” he asked, holding it out toward Yu. “Or maybe some of that plum wine?”

“More coffee,” Yu replied, taking the mug from him and getting up. Yosuke also stood up. Yu looked at him, confused.

“Bathroom,” he said, and Yu nodded. Yu brewed another cup of coffee, wondering if all the caffeine was a good idea. In his college years he’d had many, many more cups of coffee late into the night working on term papers, and the crash had been pretty bad but not the worst. While he wasn’t _old_ or anything now he also wasn’t _young_ anymore. Nevertheless, when Yosuke emerged from the bathroom he handed him his refilled mug and joined him on the couch with his own full mug.

“Now, where was I…” Yosuke pondered. He flashed a guilty grin over at Yu. “Sorry, I know it sounds like I’m being a little too casual about this, but it’s… I’ll get upset and cry all over you again if I don’t talk about it like this.”

“I get it,” Yu replied with a nod.

“Right. So. There are six other supervisors in the company that are on the same level of importance as my boss. I decided that maybe going to one of the other ones would help,” Yosuke said, sighing. “There _had_ to be one that wasn’t a terrible pervert, right? Wrong.” Yu winced. “Two of them wouldn’t see me at all, one of them was out of town, and the fourth one… well, he listened to me, and told me he’d do whatever he could to help. And then when my boss called me into his office the following Tuesday, there the bastard was. They… they let him have me first.”

“I’m so sorry,” Yu said, feeling genuine pity and genuine rage fighting for which emotion he should be feeling. He settled for outrage. “That’s… that’s horrible. Thinking you had an ally and having him turn on you—”

“Not like you don’t know a thing or two about that,” Yosuke said, his tone joking but somehow also serious. A certain murderous cop came to mind, but Yu dismissed the thought with a frown.

“Naoto will… the police will burn the company to the ground. Metaphorically, at least,” Yu said. Yosuke shook his head with a sad grin.

“I doubt it. Between them they probably have enough money to buy the police department,” he said. “And besides, I’m not even done yet.”

“Oh no,” Yu replied, and Yosuke nodded.

“For a while it was just my boss again, and after that one Tuesday it was honestly a little nice. Just a few minutes of getting fucked and then I could go about my evening. No limping, no being sore the next day, no having to take throat lozenges and drink tea after getting my throat fucked. I thought maybe I could deal with it. The checks were nice, and if it was just my boss it was fine. Maybe he started getting a little rough with my ass, but it didn’t matter.”

“And then two weeks ago I walked into his office to find _his_ boss standing there with the worst smile on his face and a tent already in his pants. He told me that he’d heard a lot about me and that he wanted to find out for himself if I really was as good of a fuck as my boss said I was. I thought, okay, it was just two of them, it wasn’t ideal but it would be fine. Maybe I’d be promoted again if this guy liked my ass. I was fine, it was fine, I could handle it. But then the door opened and everybody _else_ came in, too. I got so scared, Yu. I ran for the door but they grabbed me and one of them locked the door, and—” here he had to stop talking, breath coming in desperate gasps, his hands shaking. Yu hastily put down his coffee and took the coffee out of Yosuke’s hands before he could spill it on himself and the couch.

“You don’t have to give me details,” Yu said, gently, taking Yosuke’s hands. Yosuke shook his head.

“No, I—” he shook his head rapidly. “I’ve gotta get it out. I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to hear about this, but I’ve come so far already and I’m almost done now and… fuck, you’re right, you were right, I’ve _gotta_ talk about this.”

“Okay,” Yu said, shakily. “Okay. If this helps… if this will make it easier for you to tell Naoto or the police about what exactly happened—”

“But I—” Yosuke started to protest. Yu gently reached across the couch and squeezed Yosuke’s hands in his own.

“I know you didn’t give all these details to the police,” he said. “And I know it seems like they shouldn’t need to know about this, but it might help with sentencing. And now that I know that you came here most of the time afterwards, I can be a witness too.”

“I don’t want to get you involved,” Yosuke said, eyes wide, and Yu shook his head.

“I’m already involved, whether you like it or not, and I _want_ to be involved. I want to see these disgusting piles of human refuse be brought to justice, now more than ever,” he said. He sat back, letting go of Yosuke’s hands. “I’m… about as ready as I’ll ever be, to hear what you have to say next.”

“I’m sorry,” Yosuke said.

“I told you, you don’t have to apologize. Not about this,” Yu reminded him, his voice gentle. Yosuke nodded. He took a breath, steeled himself, and continued.

“So there were… there were six of them. My boss, my boss’s boss, and the four other supervisors, including that fucking garbage that promised to help me,” Yosuke recounted. “Two of them have me by the arms, the door is locked, and it’s so late that I know shouting for help isn’t going to work.”

“They pull off my pants entirely and use someone’s tie to tie my hands behind my back. My boss’s boss tells me that if I’m good for him I’ll get a raise. Then he tells me to try not to choke and—” Yosuke stops for a second, looking morose. “Well, there’s no pretty way to say this. He fucked my throat.” He sighed. “I’ve gotten pretty good at deepthroating over the years, so I didn’t get hurt. A few minutes later one of them is in my ass, I don’t know which one. They all wore condoms, not because they cared about me in the slightest but because they didn’t want to fuck me with cum already inside me.”

“How conscientious of them,” Yu deadpanned, and Yosuke snorted.

“Right? Sure they were gang banging me, but at least they were being safe about it,” he joked. He reached for his coffee and took another drink. “So there I am, dick in my ass, dick in my throat, hands tied behind my back, just trying not to think about what’s happening. As soon as one guy cums there’s another dick to replace him right away. They’re calling me a slut and a cum dumpster, the little office whore, and all I can do is just let it all happen. And I’m really hard, Yu. Like, _really_ hard. I’m taking these dicks like the champ I am and all I can think about is the time my boss told me if I came on his carpet he’d fire me.”

“Wow,” Yu replied. Yosuke frowned.

“But the whole time I was counting down. There were six of them, so I should only have to take six dicks, right? But the fifth guy pulls out of my throat and the sixth guy pulls out of my ass, and then there’s a seventh set of hands on me and a seventh dick pushing into my ass, and I’m so dazed and confused... My hands were tied anyway, so it wasn’t like I could do anything. He fucks me for a while and finishes up and I find out it was the boss’s boss again when he tells me I’m getting that raise for sure,” he said.

“Why did I go back to work after that, you ask? I was scared of what would happen if I quit, honestly. It wasn’t just about the money anymore, I was scared they’d… I don’t know, put a hit out on me or something like that. But yesterday my boss was demanding to fuck me without a condom and that was the last straw,” Yosuke concluded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the "low point" of the fic. It will only get better from here!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Telling you all that was… well, embarrassing as hell, to be honest, and I’m sorry you had to hear it,” Yosuke said.
> 
> “I asked you to tell me,” Yu pointed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you skipped chapter 4, you have missed absolutely nothing!

Yosuke finished his narration with a lopsided, sad little grin. After hearing all of that, Yosuke's first-hand account of all the terrible things that had been forced onto him, all Yu could do for a moment was sit in silence.

“Yosuke…” Yu said, after a moment.

“Telling you all that was… well, embarrassing as hell, to be honest, and I’m sorry you had to hear it,” Yosuke said.

“I _asked_ you to tell me,” Yu pointed out. Yosuke was silent. He took another big drink of his coffee, before setting the now empty cup on the coffee table.

“I still don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” he said. “Especially not after having this much coffee. Maybe I’ll just stay up all night and play video games or something.”

“Do you… need to forget?” Yu asked, his voice quiet. Yosuke frowned.

“That would be great but... after hearing all that are you okay with doing that for me?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Yu asked. Yosuke lifted an eyebrow.

“Seriously? After learning about all the dicks I’ve had in me you’re not totally disgusted?” he asked.

“No,” Yu replied. “What you do with your body is your own concern, and what was done to you by those men is not your fault." Yu frowned. "Look, I’m not going to ask you to only ever have sex with me from now on. I mean, I’d prefer that, but you are your own person.” Yu shifted, getting into a kneeling position and crawling over to Yosuke’s side of the couch. He put a hand on one of Yosuke’s cheeks and leaned in, stopping a few inches away from his mouth.

“Is this okay?” he asked, and Yosuke snickered.

“ _Now_ you’re asking for permission?” he laughed.

“I should have, earlier,” Yu admitted. “But if you’ll recall, back when we started this friends with benefits thing I _did_ ask and you told me I didn’t have to.”

“That was about sex, not kissing… but, fair,” Yosuke said. He dragged his gaze down from Yu’s eyes to his lips. “Alright, you have my permission. You may kiss the Yosuke.” Yu laughed.

“Not that I mind, but how can you be so calm like this after telling me all that?” Yu asked.

“You think I’m calm right now?” Yosuke asked with a snort. “But, getting it out of my head really helped,” Yosuke said. “And, y’know, learning that just I’m not some horrible pervert just because I didn’t want it to happen but still got turned on by it… well, it makes it a little easier to stomach.”

“I’m glad,” Yu said. He leaned in and kissed Yosuke, a soft, quick kiss that turned into several quick pecks, before he pulled away. Yosuke looked a little flustered but didn’t protest. Yu leaned in for another kiss, this one longer but just as chaste. He pulled away and kissed Yosuke’s cheek, then trailed a few kisses down his neck until he got to his collarbone, where he clamped down and started to try to suck a hickey into the skin. Yosuke squirmed a little but said nothing. The hand that wasn’t on Yosuke’s cheek slid down and pushed up his shirt, bunching it up just above his pecs. Yosuke gasped and Yu looked up, pulling his mouth away from his collarbone. The skin was a little red but there wouldn’t be a hickey. He’d have to try harder. Maybe later.

“Everything okay?” he asked. Yosuke looked _very_ flustered.

“I-I’m fine, just… well, it’s been a long time since the two of us have done anything like this,” he admitted, cheeks going red. “And nobody else I’ve slept with lately has been all that interested in foreplay.”

“To be fair, you’re always so impatient to get my dick in you that I don’t ever have the time,” Yu pointed out. Yosuke chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s true…” he trailed off.

“Do you want me to stop?” Yu asked. His hand was still on Yosuke’s chest, and he was absentmindedly dragging his thumb in circles between his pecs.

“N-not really, no,” Yosuke replied. Yu nodded.

“Alright, then,” he said. He leaned in for another quick kiss, moving the hand cupping Yosuke’s face down to join his other hand. He pulled away from him for a moment to scoot back a little, then moved down and pressed a kiss to the divot between his pecs. Yosuke gasped a little. Yu looked up with a devious grin.

“Do you still like having your nipples sucked?” he asked, and Yosuke’s face went red hot _instantly_.

“Shut up!” he exclaimed. Yu grinned.

“So you do,” he replied, and Yosuke’s hands flew up to cover his eyes, looking embarrassed. Yu moved over to one nipple, noting it was already stiff. He glanced down and was pleased to find that Yosuke was visibly hard in his jeans. He’d get there all in due time. He placed a kiss against the nipple, a hand coming up to gently start to rub at the other one. Yosuke whimpered but didn’t protest. He gave the nipple a few experimental licks, pleased when Yosuke’s body jerked in response. Then he sealed his lips over the little nub and started to suck, gently pinching and rolling the other nipple between calloused fingertips.

“Oh fuck,” Yosuke muttered. Both of his hands were now firmly over his very red face. It was a crime that he hadn’t done this to Yosuke in so long, he’d forgotten how responsive he was to it. At the same time, he was more than a little glad that nobody else had done this to him either. He sucked and rubbed for a while, listening to Yosuke’s muffled groans and moans, before he pulled away and switched, clamping his mouth down on the other nipple. Yosuke _wailed_ when he did, and for a terrible moment he thought he’d actually hurt him. His hands shot down to Yu’s shoulders and he rolled his hips up, though he connected with nothing.

“I’m _dying_ ,” he gasped, rolling his hips again but to no effect. “It feels so good but I’m _so hard_ , Yu, I’m dying, I—” He stopped speaking abruptly when Yu moved a hand down and gently but firmly placed it on his crotch. He started kneading the hard flesh through the layers of fabric, and Yosuke’s moans returned in full force.

“Are you…” Yosuke panted, grip tightening on Yu’s shoulders. “Do you want me to cum in my pants?” Yu pulled away from his nipple and surged up, catching his lips in a hard kiss that left them both breathless.

“No, I don’t,” he said, pulling his hands away from Yosuke’s chest. Yosuke watched with rapt attention as he scooted back even further. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against his abs, trailing down until he met the waistband of his jeans.He reached down and unbuttoned the fly and pulled down the zipper. He was gratified to find a sizable wet spot already on Yosuke’s underwear. He looked up, intending on teasing him about it, but the look on his face made him stop. Yosuke looked _eager_ , and _hungry_ , and he hadn’t really seen him like that in a while. It was a good look on him.

Instead he tugged his pants and underwear the few precious inches down his body that he could without making him lift his hips. Yosuke’s hardness sprang up almost as soon as he did, prompting an embarrassed groan out of him. Yu just grinned and without any warning he leaned down and sucked as much of Yosuke’s dick into his mouth as he could.

Yu didn’t have a whole lot of experience with blowjobs. Certainly not as much as Yosuke did, anyway. But he _did_ have a secret weapon — no gag reflex. Or, at least, a very repressed one. He could eat any number of dubious things without breaking a sweat, and a dick was no exception. He’d never done this with Yosuke because Yosuke didn’t seem to be very interested in getting head. Clearly, he’d been wrong in his assumption for all these years, because Yosuke almost immediately became a complete mess.

“Oh, _Partner_ ,” Yosuke moaned, and Yu knew he was doing _something_ right. He closed his eyes and started bobbing his head, listening to the cacophony of sweet moans and groans coming from Yosuke as he worked. He felt fingers weave into his hair and leaned into them for a moment before continuing to service his Partner’s dick.

Maybe Yu was actually _that_ good or maybe Yosuke was wound up from having someone sucking his cock after years of only his ass getting attention. In either case, in short order Yosuke was stammering out the word Partner like a prayer and bucking up into Yu’s mouth. When he came Yu swallowed every last drop and kept sucking until he felt the dick in his mouth stop throbbing. He pulled away and sat back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and grinning. Yosuke was slumped back against the couch. There was a sheen of sweat on his slightly red face and his eyes looked glassy and dazed. His shirt was still pushed up, and Yu took a moment to admire his work, both nipples hard and red from his earlier attention. Yosuke’s spent dick was leaning against his stomach, still wet with spit. Yu looked back up at his face, and Yosuke was smiling tiredly at him. He looked sated and more relaxed than Yu had seen him in ages, even while asleep. Yu was proud.

“That was amazing,” Yosuke finally managed to slur out as his breathing evened out and he seemed to come back to himself. “Holy shit, dude, I had no idea you could deep throat.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Yu replied with a warm grin. “Will you be able to sleep now?”

“Still kinda want to get my ass pounded,” he replied with a smirk. Yu watched his line of sight travel down to where there was a visible tent in Yu’s pants. Blowing someone always turned him on, and the _noises_ Yosuke had been making had gotten him to full mast very quickly. He couldn’t have helped it if he’d tried. “If you’re up for it,” he added.

“Sure,” Yu said with a grin. “Just let me get something to drink first.”

“Oh, damn I am _thirsty_ ,” Yosuke said, as if he was discovering that fact as he was saying it.

“Stay right there, I’ll bring you something,” Yu said, rising off of the couch and carefully making his way into the kitchen. He returned with two tall glasses of ice water, watching amused as Yosuke drank his entire glass all at once.

Yu made Yosuke go to the bathroom before they continued, and when Yosuke arrived in his room he’d ditched his jeans for a pair of pajama pants. Yu had started to change into his own pajamas, but considering what they were going to be doing he had just simply stripped out of his casual clothes and put his pajamas in a stack next to a towel, a condom, and the bottle of lube. Yosuke walked over and picked up the lube, contemplating it for a moment before looking up at Yu, shyly.

“Um,” he started, looking pretty embarrassed. “I… I really liked it when you got me ready last night,” he admitted. “It was nice.” Yu wordlessly took the lube from him with a reassuring smile. Yosuke returned it. He pushed his pajama pants down and stepped out of them. He clambered onto the bed on his hands and knees, and Yu climbed on behind him.

Again he started with two slicked up fingers, pushing them into him a little more carefully than he had the previous night. Yosuke twitched and groaned, hands gripping the comforter, but said nothing. Yu went slow, scissoring his fingers and pressing them firmly against his prostate at regular intervals. Yosuke gasped every time he did, and Yu honestly couldn’t tell if the gasps were voluntary or not. What was voluntary was the way he started to rock back against Yu’s fingers, little pleased noises escaping his throat.

Yu added a third finger and Yosuke threw his head back and rocked harder against him with a satisfied moan. Before long Yosuke was ready, and Yu pulled back, rolling a condom onto his dick and slathering it with lube. As he did, he watched in fascination as Yosuke got up and grabbed the towel, spreading it out on his bed and laying down on top of it — face up.

They hadn’t had sex face-to-face in… god, _forever_. Not since the start of their friends with benefits arrangement. Yosuke had said he felt like it was way too intimate. He’d explained that didn’t like Yu — or anyone, for that matter — being able to see the expressions he made, especially when he came. The fact that he was doing this now said… a lot.

“Before you ask,” he said, watching hungrily as Yu slicked up his member. “No, I don’t let people fuck me like this. At all. It’s _always_ face-down ass-up.”

“I’m honored,” Yu said, and though he sounded sarcastic he also _really meant it_.

“Good,” Yosuke replied, looking about as cheeky as someone naked from the waist down could look. Yu frowned.

“Take off your shirt,” he commanded, and Yosuke rolled his eyes, but still sat up

“What, so you can play with my nipples while you fuck me?” he asked, even as he was stripping out of the shirt.

“Well, now that you say that, _yes_ ,” Yu replied. He didn’t miss the way Yosuke shuddered in anticipation. He laid back down, legs bent at the knees and spread for him. His cock was hard again, balls swollen and drawn up tight against his body. His nipples still looked red from Yu’s earlier work. Yu had to take a moment to study the _feast_ laid out before him.

“You okay there, Partner?” Yosuke asked.

“Yeah, I just… god, Yosuke, _I want you so bad_ ,” he said. Yosuke blushed, looking embarrassed and pleased at the same time.

“Well, I’m all yours, Partner,” he replied. Yu grabbed Yosuke’s hips, hoisting them up a little and lining up his cock with Yosuke’s slicked, waiting hole. He pushed in slowly, carefully, taking his time in seating himself inside his Partner’s warm body. It felt pretty amazing, like always, but there was the added benefit of the heat in Yosuke’s eyes he could see, plain as day, as he watched Yu’s cock sliding into his own body. Once he was fully seated inside, Yu grabbed one of Yosuke’s legs by the thigh, lowering himself down until he could place a gentle kiss on Yosuke’s lips. Yosuke reached up and threw his arms around Yu’s shoulders, one gripping his shoulderblade and the other landing in his hair. He dragged him down for a very much not chaste kiss and Yu grabbed a handful of the comforter just beside Yosuke’s head.

He started to move. Yosuke responded almost immediately, moaning appreciatively into Yu’s mouth, hips moving to meet Yu’s thrusts. Yosuke’s body felt fantastic inside as always, muscles squeezing around Yu’s cock as he drove it inside progressively harder and faster. But facing Yosuke like this, being able to see how much he was clearly enjoying this, being able to kiss him whenever he wanted… it was something else. He found himself skyrocketing toward orgasm, having to slow down to catch his breath and make sure he didn’t come too early. He wanted to savor this.

“Partner, this is, you, I—” Yosuke managed to gasp out. He was giving Yu such an adoring look, eyes fluttering shut and giving a light gasp at nearly every one of Yu’s thrusts into his body. Yu thrust harder and harder, wanting Yosuke to keep giving him those looks forever if he could. But sadly, neither of them could last forever. Yu saw the telltale dreamy blankness come over his Partner’s features and knew that he was close. He held on for as long as possible, pounding away at Yosuke’s ass while Yosuke’s eyes fluttered, head full of nothing.

When he felt himself starting to come, Yu let go of the comforter and moved his hand down to Yosuke’s stiff, throbbing hardness. It only took a few strokes to set him off, and Yu watched his eyes roll into the back of his head as he gasped and threw his hips up into the feeling. Cum splattered onto Yosuke’s chest and abs and onto Yu’s hand. Yu came almost immediately, the expression on Yosuke’s face absolutely sending him over the edge. He drove in hard and emptied himself into the condom, gritting his teeth and groaning Yosuke’s name through them.

It took some effort, but rather than collapsing down onto his Partner Yu managed to pull away. He carefully extracted himself from Yosuke’s ass and sat back on the bed. He pulled off the condom and tied it. He looked up to find Yosuke watching him with tired, dazed eyes. He still had his legs up, so Yu went and pushed them down into a more comfortable position, stretched out on the bed. He cleaned himself up and put on his pajamas, then went to the kitchen for more water. Yosuke was asleep, looking sated and very, very well-fucked, spread out on Yu’s bed. Yu almost wanted to take a picture. Almost. Instead he coaxed his Partner awake and handed him the water, which he took with a dreamy expression on his face.

“You’re so good to me,” he slurred, with a big, dopey grin. “I love that about you.” Yu froze when he said the word ‘love’, letting out a little nervous chuckle when he finished the sentence.

“I’m glad I get to take care of you,” he said. “And that you’re letting me, for once.” He got no response, and barely stopped himself from barking out a laugh when he realized that Yosuke had fallen asleep sitting up. He just shook his head and gently maneuvered him under the covers, setting an alarm for much later than usual, turning off the lights, and crawling into bed beside him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got unexpectedly very busy, so the chapter was a day late this week...

Yu woke up before his alarm, disoriented by the sunlight streaming into his bedroom and the empty space beside him that should have been where Yosuke was. The smell of brewing coffee and the sound of frying bacon put his fears at ease, though. He looked at the clock and discovered that it was just past eight am, long after he would have normally been up for work. Then the memories of everything that had happened the previous night hit him.

He had to admit, he was impressed that Yosuke was up before him. Especially considering how hard he’d fucked him. He was also still absolutely furious at Yosuke’s former boss and all the rest. He still wanted to burn all of their houses down. Or strangle them with live pythons

“Morning, Yu!” Yosuke called to him, sounding more cheerful than he’d sounded in a long time. He turned away from what he was cooking at the stove to grin at him, spatula in hand. He’d thrown on an old shirt and a pair of shorts that showed off his legs very nicely, and put one of Yu’s aprons on over the ensemble.

“Morning,” Yu returned. He sat down at his usual seat at the table, pleased and touched to find a mug of coffee there. He took an experimental sip and was impressed that Yosuke had not only known how much sugar and creamer he took in his coffee, but also exactly how he liked it to be brewed. “Hope you don’t mind that I’m borrowing your kitchen… and your groceries.”

“It’s nice to not have to cook breakfast myself for a change,” Yu replied. He watched Yosuke go about his cooking while he slowly sipped his coffee. And if his eyes moved down to appreciate that nice ass or those long legs or even those muscular arms and what of Yosuke’s back he could see under the shirt… well, he was sure Yosuke wouldn’t mind if he caught him staring.

“I hope you like it,” Yosuke said, setting a plate down in front of Yu. There was a delicious looking omelette on the plate flanked by two pieces of bacon. Yosuke put a fork down for him before heading back over to grab his own plate and his own mug of coffee. Yu carefully sliced off one of the edges of the omelette, curiously peering inside. He could see some spinach, some pieces of leek, and judging by the gooey, cheddary string that connected the piece of omelette on his fork to the main omelette itself, there was also cheese. He greedily took a bite, and was happy and surprised to find that it was actually delicious.

“This is really good, Yosuke,” he praised. He went for a second bite. “When did you get so good at cooking?”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high, I’m only really good at making breakfast,” Yosuke replied. “I’ve picked up a lot from all the people whose beds I’ve woken up in over the years.”

“I’m sure if you tried you could make some decent dinners,” Yu replied. He carefully ate the rest of the omelette as he continued. “In fact, why don’t I show you how to make curry tonight? I’ll stop by the market and get the supplies for it on my way home from work tonight.”

“Aw, man, Partner! I haven’t had your curry in ages!” Yosuke cheered. He took a bite of his omelette, looking contemplative. “Hey, why don’t I go get the supplies for you? That way you don’t have to worry about it and you can just come straight home.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Yosuke answered. Yosuke scoffed.

“Dude, it’s the least I can do,” he said. “I’m serious. Leave me a list of what you need and I’ll go get it for you. Other than unpacking I have literally nothing else to do today.”

“Sure,” Yu finally acquiesced. He took another bite, then looked up at Yosuke with a mischievous smirk. “As long as you’ll be able to walk properly after the pounding I gave you last night.”

“Please,” Yosuke shot back with a grin. “Who the heck do you think I am? I’ll be fine.”

“Alright,” Yu said with an answering grin. He finished off the omelette and quickly finished the two slices of bacon as well, drinking down the rest of his coffee. “That was really good, Yosuke. You even know how I like my coffee!”

“I’d like to think I learned a thing or two about you in the years we’ve been Partners,” Yosuke said. Yu rose, collecting his dishes and putting them in the stack of dishes from the previous night.

“I’ll make you that list after I finish the dishes,” Yu informed him, rolling up his sleeves. Yosuke also collected his dishes.

“Hey, let me help with that!” Yosuke protested.

“All right,” Yu said. “You wash, I’ll rinse.”

They got the dishes done quickly, the two of them working perfectly in sync. Yu surveyed his fridge and pantry and wrote down a list of the things he needed Yosuke to pick up. Yosuke looked over the list and grinned, adding a couple of his own additions.

The two of them left the apartment at the same time, both headed to the nearby train station. Just before they got to the station, Yosuke tugged Yu into a little alleyway between two buildings, a grin on his face that promised trouble. He dragged Yu into a kiss, which Yu gladly reciprocated. He’d been a tiny bit worried that Yosuke would have changed his mind about what they’d both said the previous night, but his fears were apparently unfounded.

“Good luck at work today, Partner,” Yosuke said as he pulled away. “I’ll miss you.”

“I won’t even be gone for that long,” Yu said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. Yosuke pulled him into another kiss, then turned him and shoved him back out of the alley. Yu caught the north train, and Yosuke caught the south train.

Yu fielded questions from his boss and coworkers, giving as few details as possible but letting them know that his friend had absolutely needed the help, and that his time off had been well spent. Then he got to work. He hadn’t been gone for that long, but he’d missed quite a bit and had some catching up to do. The day went by shockingly fast, and before Yu knew it he was clocking out for the day. He spent his train ride home contemplating the fact that up until now, he’d taken for granted the fact that he had a kind, supportive boss.

“I’m home,” Yu announced as he stepped into his apartment. He’d been living alone for most of his life in one form or another, but he still made it a habit to announce that he was home, even to the empty dwellings. So when he got a response from Yosuke he wasn’t quite prepared for the wave of sheer, sappy happiness that washed over him. He just stood there grinning like a fool for a few minutes until Yosuke came out of the guest bedroom and gave him a confused look from across the apartment.

“What’s up, Partner? Why are you grinning like that?” he asked. Yu laughed.

“You’re going to think it’s silly,” Yu said, the spell finally broken. He stooped down and removed his shoes, sliding off his tie and jacket with familiar motions he’d done countless times.

“Tell me anyway?” Yosuke asked, crossing the apartment to meet him as he draped the tie and jacket over an arm.

“I was just… really happy that you answered, that’s all,” he explained. Yosuke grinned.

“That’s cute,” he said. He leaned in and stole a kiss, which Yu sighed happily into. “How was work?”

“It went by in a flash, honestly,” Yu replied. He made his way over to his room, putting away his jacket and tie and changing into casual clothes. It was too early in the day for pajamas, but he didn’t want to risk getting anything on his nice work clothes. He settled for a pair of old jeans and a faded old shirt that Yosuke had gotten him all the way back when they’d been in college. It was one of Yu’s favorites, actually. It was one of those ultra-soft graphic tees, a dark gray heather in color with the white outline of a cat sitting next to a mug. It was so simple, but when Yosuke had presented it to him he’d said it had reminded him so much of Yu that he’d been all but forced to buy it for him. It had been his garment of choice for many, many late or all-night study sessions.

“Oh, hey, you still have that shirt, huh?” Yosuke remarked when Yu returned to the living area. Yu beamed at him.

“I’ve told you before, but it’s my favorite shirt,” he explained. Yosuke looked pleased. “Alright, are you ready to make some curry?”

“You bet,” Yosuke replied. “I got everything on the list that you wanted. Had to go to a couple of different stores, but it was nice to get out of the apartment.”

Yu had cooked curry so many times in his life that he knew the recipe better than he knew the back of his hand. It was a breeze to walk Yosuke through all the steps, from cooking the chicken to perfectly slicing up the vegetables to cooking the rice. Yu had a rice cooker, but he decided to make the rice in a pot on the stove to show Yosuke how to do it.

“And now we just have to wait on the rice to finish and drain it and voila, Narukami curry,” Yu concluded. Yosuke grinned.

“That actually was pretty easy,” he said.

“I told you it would be,” Yu replied, his tone teasing.

“Oh, I bought us some mochi for dessert,” Yosuke informed him. “It was the same brand we used to get for Nanako all the time back in Inaba. How is she, by the way? Have you heard from her or your Uncle lately?”

“They’re doing fine. Although, Uncle is starting to worry a little about her going off to college soon. He says he doesn’t know what he’ll do with nobody around to take care of.”

“College, huh? Wow. They grow up so fast!” Yosuke replied. “Is she aiming for a college here, like her big bro?”

“She wants to, but here’s the ironic thing. She’s worried about leaving my Uncle alone. She says she doesn’t know what he’ll do without her around to take care of him,” Yu replied, tone conspiratorial. Yosuke laughed. Yu peeked at the cooking rice, stirring it and determining that it was done. Yosuke watched as he drained the rice and served the finished curry onto two plates.

They settled onto the couch with their plates of curry and two ice cold light beers that Yosuke had brought back from his shopping trip. They paired well with the curry, and Yu told his Partner that he was impressed with the choice. Yosuke insisted that he’d just been lucky, but Yu had a feeling that he’d probably put a lot more thought into the choice than he was letting on. They watched the evening news as they ate, commenting on the news stories of the day. It was nice. Just like with breakfast, Yosuke helped Yu with the dishes, then brought out the mochi for them to eat. It was extremely domestic. Yu wondered if he could convince Yosuke to just stay with him forever instead of going back to his own apartment once the danger had passed.

Yu settled into his usual nightly routine and Yosuke vanished into the spare room. He emerged around the time Yu was getting ready for bed, looking nervous and a little sheepish.

“What is it, Yosuke? You can ask me for anything, you know,” Yu prompted, and Yosuke laughed a little, hand coming up to scratch at the back of his head in his nervousness.

“This is gonna sound stupid but… would you mind if I slept in your bed with you? We don’t need to have sex or anything, I don’t need that tonight, but… I’m, uh, I’m a little afraid to sleep alone, to be honest,” he explained.

“Of course,” Yu replied. Yosuke looked relieved. “And that wasn’t a stupid question, Yosuke.” Yosuke nodded, and then he simply followed Yu into his room, slipping under the covers while Yu set his alarm and set out the outfit he’d be wearing to work the next day. He turned off the light and crawled under the covers.

“Good night, Partner,” he said. He felt Yosuke move, sliding over to his side of the bed. A hand landed on his neck, sliding up to his cheek, and even though he couldn’t see him in the darkness, he could feel Yosuke’s face get closer and closer.

“Good night, Partner,” Yosuke echoed, pressing a warm, chaste kiss to his lips. He broke away with a soft sound and then pulled away, sliding back over to his side of the bed. Yu fell asleep with a smile.

He woke up with a frown. Something was wrong. It didn’t take him long to figure out the source of the disturbance: it was Yosuke. He was making quiet sounds of despair, little whimpers and pained groans. It wasn’t until he started saying “no, no, no” that Yu realized he needed to do something. He couldn’t really see what he was doing, but he reached for what he hoped was Yosuke’s shoulder, trying to be gentle but firm as he grabbed him and shook him awake.

“Partner,” he said. He felt Yosuke jolt and heard him gasp, felt him jerk away from Yu’s grip. “Partner, it’s all right. You’re safe. You were having a nightmare, I think.”

“Nightmare is an understatement,” Yosuke replied, and Yu could hear in his voice that he was shaken. “Ugh. It was…” He sighed. “Well, you can probably guess what it was about.”

“You’re awake now, you’re safe,” Yu repeated.

“Y-yeah,” Yosuke replied, but he sounded uncertain.

“Is it alright if I turn on a lamp?” Yu asked.

“Sure,” Yosuke answered. With a practiced motion, Yu reached to his bedside table and clicked on the lamp that was sitting on it. A warm glow filled the room, illuminating the two of them. Yosuke looked haunted, his dark bags prominent and the look on his face one of despair. Yu sat up and Yosuke mirrored him. Yu reached for one of his hands and Yosuke let him take it, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Want to talk about it?” Yu asked. Yosuke just sighed.

“It’s funny, I… I knew I was dreaming. He kept saying that if I wanted to keep my job I’d let him do whatever he wanted to me, but I remembered quitting. And, y’know… have you ever been in a dream and then been aware you were dreaming? Normally you can kind of do whatever you want, right? But I couldn’t. I kept protesting that I didn’t work for him any more and kept trying to leave but…” Yosuke stopped and squeezed Yu’s hand for a second. Yu squeezed back, and Yosuke let out a breath he’d been holding. “Every time I ran through a door it just kept leading back to his office. They cornered me eventually and he did something that made it so that I couldn’t move, and… Well, you woke me up before anything _too_ terrible could happen.”

“Have you had nightmares like this before?” Yu asked. Yosuke nodded.

“A handful of times, only this time was worse because… well, like I said, I was aware that I was dreaming, but couldn’t wake up,” he explained.

“What about last night? Or the night before?” Yu asked.

“I was too exhausted to dream. Thanks to you, mostly,” Yosuke answered. Yu didn’t know whether he wanted that to be a good thing or a bad thing.

“Glad I could help,” he answered. Yosuke looked away, his hand tightening in Yu’s.

“There’s something else,” he said. Yu squeezed his hand back. “Yu, I’m… I’m hard right now. From that dream, I guess.” He looked morose. “I hate this. I hate how my body responds to these things so differently than my head does. It makes me feel _disgusting_.”

“It’s okay,” Yu said, trying to sound reassuring.

“It’s not,” Yosuke choked out. “It’s _not_ , I don’t want my body reacting like this!”

“You went through a really traumatic experience, Yosuke,” Yu said. “You’re still going through it. Just because it’s over doesn’t mean it’s going to just go away overnight. Go easy on yourself, you’ve barely started to heal from all of it.”

“I’ll… try. It’d be helpful if my stupid brain wouldn’t do shit like this to me,” he grumbled, glaring down at his crotch.

“Want me to take care of it for you?” Yu asked. Yosuke bit his lip but looked up at him.

“You don’t mind?” he asked, and Yu shook his head.

“If it’ll help you sleep through the rest of the night, I really don’t,” he said.

“You’re way too good to me,” Yosuke replied. He leaned across the space between them and kissed Yu. Yu got a hand on his hip and tugged him closer. Once he was close enough, Yu’s hand dropped to his lap.

“Hope you’re okay with just a handjob. I’m tired,” Yu said.

“If you were anyone else I’d be disappointed, but these are _your_ hands we’re talking about,” Yosuke joked. Yu slipped his hand down the front of Yosuke’s pajamas, moving the waistband down and exposing Yosuke’s hard member. Yosuke tended to leak precum when he was really turned on, and thankfully he seemed to be _really_ turned on. It certainly helped, and Yu was able to start out with a quick pace and a firm grip. Yosuke moaned in approval.

“How am I doing?” Yu asked, and Yosuke let out a happy sigh in response.

“It’s like I’ve always said, Partner, you’re good with your hands,” he replied. “I’m… ugh, I’m a little light headed, can I lean on you?”

“Sure,” Yu said, stopping what he was doing so that they could rearrange themselves. Yosuke was practically draped across him, face buried in Yu’s neck and legs spread wide to accommodate him. Yu went back to work. He wasn’t able to see what he was doing at the angle he was at, but it didn’t matter. It was a simple motion, and Yosuke was practically doing half of the work for him with the way his hips were jumping into his hand.

It didn’t take long, what with the way Yosuke had been so worked up. As Yosuke got closer to his climax he grabbed the hand that Yu was using to jerk him off in both of his hands, holding it still and shamelessly humping it. Yu went still and let Yosuke do what he wanted, listening with rapt attention to the way he was moaning against Yu’s neck. He gave a full body shudder when he came, cum spilling out onto his hands and Yu’s hand and both of their pajama pants..

“Thank you,” Yosuke moaned out as he started to cum. He pushed his forehead hard into Yu’s neck. “Thank you, Partner, thank you, thank you thankyou— ngh—”

He fell still and silent, gasping for breath as little tremors rocked his body in the aftermath. He eventually pulled away, looking down at their hands through barely open eyes.

“Uh, whoops?” he mumbled. “Sorry, I—”

“It’s okay, Yosuke,” Yu replied. He reached for his bedside table with his clean hand. He tugged open the drawer and pulled a few tissues out of a tissue box. He was quick and methodical as he cleaned them up. He’d have to change pajamas, and a quick glance at Yosuke’s lap told him he needed to get the ones Yosuke was wearing off of him. He was still conscious at least, so the task was much simpler. Into the dirty clothes hamper they went. When Yu turned back to Yosuke to ask which pajamas he wanted he found that Yosuke had already slipped back under the covers and was fast asleep, completely naked. Yu shook his head but a fond smile crept onto his face.

“Sweet dreams, Partner,” he said, too quiet to wake him up, as he tugged on a clean set of pajamas. He didn’t want to start the washing machine so early in the morning, so he quickly rinsed off their pajama pants and hung them in the shower to dry. He turned out the light and climbed back into bed. Hopefully Yosuke would sleep through the night without any nightmares coming back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anybody even reading this? Does anyone care? I'm still going to keep posting regardless...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got busy again and forgot to post! I might just start posting on Wednesday instead from now on. D:

Yu woke up to his alarm and the sound of a disappointed groan. The alarm was coming from the same place it always did, an alarm clock on his bedside table. The groan was coming from much, much closer. Yu tried to reach up and shut the alarm off, but was alarmed himself when he found he couldn’t move his arm. He blinked his eyes open and discovered the reason quickly. There was a very naked, very much still asleep Yosuke draped entirely across his chest. Both of his arms were trapped.

This was new. Even after Yosuke had started sleeping in his bed after they had sex he’d never once woken up to even a stray hand on him. Yosuke kept to himself in his sleep. Or so Yu had thought, but clearly that wasn’t the case right now. The alarm blared on, and Yosuke slept on. Yu tried to free an arm, but Yosuke was latched onto him like an octopus.

“Yosuke,” he said, his tone gentle but firm.

“Hmm?” the sleeping Yosuke responded with.

“Yosuke!” Yu tried a little louder.

“Whazit, Partner?” Yosuke asked. His eyes were still shut, but Yu thought he was probably at least _starting_ to wake up.

“Yosuke, you have my arms trapped and I need to shut off the alarm,” Yu continued.

“But I’m comfy,” Yosuke whined, eyes still shut. “You’re comfy.”

“Yosuke, I need to get up and get ready to go to work,” Yu said. Yosuke frowned. The alarm blared on. Yu started to worry that the neighbors might file a noise complaint. He made one last attempt, managing to break free of Yosuke’s grip with one hand, which he used to reach up and finally shut off the alarm. Yosuke seemed to double down on his grip when Yu pulled away, gripping more firmly and snuggling his face against Yu’s chest. Yu sighed. “Yosuke…”

“Call outta work, tell em you’re a pillow now,” Yosuke said. He was starting to sound more awake.

“I can’t,” Yu said, but he was amused. “Look, it’s Friday. That’s just one more work day, and we can cuddle like this all weekend if you want.” Yosuke said nothing, just squeezed a little tighter. Yu sighed. “Partner, please…”

Maybe it was the use of the word ‘please’, but it was more likely the use of the term ‘Partner’ that did it. In either case, Yosuke sighed and pulled away, rolling over to his side of the bed. Yu couldn’t see his face, but he got the sense that he was pouting. Yu turned on the light and got out of bed. He went through his normal morning routine, though he did try to stay quiet so as not to wake up Yosuke. He made twice the coffee and twice the breakfast. Before he left he went to check in on Yosuke and tell him to not let his breakfast get cold.

“Partner,” he said, gently shaking Yosuke awake. Yosuke blinked and sat up with a mighty yawn. The blankets fell into his lap, exposing his chest to the morning air. Yu definitely took a moment to appreciate the view as Yosuke slowly woke up.

“Why do you gotta be up so early?” Yosuke complained, and Yu chuckled.

“It’s one of the great tragedies of the modern world,” he replied. “I’m heading out. There’s breakfast for you on the table, you might want to eat it before it gets cold.”

“Aww, okay,” he said. He started to get out of bed and only then did he apparently notice that he was naked. He blushed a little. “Uh, and thanks for last night.”

“You didn’t have any more nightmares, did you?” Yu asked, and Yosuke shook his head.

“Nope. Slept like a brick,” Yosuke replied. Yu snickered.

“More like an octopus,” he replied. He looked at his watch and checked the time, and his good mood deflated. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Yeah. Good luck today, Partner,” Yosuke replied. Yu had started turning to the door but paused at Yosuke’s words — or, rather, the dejected tone of them.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. Yosuke folded his hands in his lap and was staring down at them.

“It’s stupid,” he said. “Sorry. I know you’ve gotta go to work, but I don’t want to be alone today.” Yu took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh.

“I wish I could be here with you,” he said. “But the wheels of capitalism don’t stop, I’m afraid.” Yosuke nodded. Yu had a sudden thought. “Call up Rise. I don’t think she’s worked on a Friday in about three years. I’m sure she can make time for you in her schedule.”

“I’ll think about it,” Yosuke replied. Yu nodded, checking the time again. He was going to have to text his boss that he was running late.

“Hang in there, Partner,” he said. “And remember the breakfast!” He hurried out of the room with a quick wave, picking up his briefcase and slipping on his shoes as he darted out. He could maybe shave some time off of his commute if he drove his car instead of taking the train, but there was never anywhere to park at his building. He kind of liked commuting by train anyway, it gave him time to decompress before work.

As soon as he got on the train he texted his boss, and then after some debate he texted Yosuke. “Text if you need anything or even just need to talk. I’ll try to respond as quickly as I can. Just remember that you’re not alone.”

The workday was boring and uneventful, until it wasn’t. A little while after lunch, Yu’s phone started ringing. It was the ringtone he had set for Yosuke years ago, a recording Yu had made at an open mic event where Yosuke had played guitar and sang some songs. Yu didn’t get to hear it very often as Yosuke usually texted instead of called, so it made him panic a little. He quickly excused himself to a board room that wasn’t being used, calling back and praying it wasn’t anything serious. He was very relieved when Yosuke answered almost immediately.

“Hey, guess what, you and Naoto were totally right,” Yosuke answered.

“How so?” Yu asked. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just, uh, just a little freaked out. I’m safe. But, listen, one of my neighbors just called and told me that someone definitely tried to break into my apartment.” Yu’s blood ran cold.

“What happened?” he asked.

“She called my landlady and the police and reported it. The police are there now, and my landlady texted me to let me know what was happening,” Yosuke explained. “My neighbor — uh, it was Ms. Yamada, the nice one. Anyway, she said she’s been seeing these thug looking guys hanging around. At first she thought they were watching her apartment, and she’s glad that they weren’t. Can you imagine Ms. Yamada getting into enough trouble that thugs are coming after her?” He paused to laugh here, but the laugh was definitely a touch hysterical.

“Calm down, Yosuke. You said yourself that you’re safe, and it sounds like they didn’t actually get into your apartment, right?” Yu said. He heard Yosuke take a shaky breath.

“Right. And I’ve been watching out your windows like crazy, but I haven’t seen anyone suspicious. Just a lot of housewives walking their kids to the park,” he answered.

“Good. Okay. Can you tell me what happened?” Yu asked.

“According to Ms. Yamada, the group of shady looking guys came up to my apartment and tried to get in. They picked the lock, but it took them long enough that the police showed up before they could actually go inside. My landlady is going to have the lock replaced, and I can come get the new keys whenever I want. I told her I was out of town on business,” Yosuke explained.

“Wow,” Yu replied.

“I’m gonna call Naoto next after I hang up with you,” Yosuke informed him. “There’s no security cameras in my apartment complex and Ms. Yamada couldn’t get a good picture of the thugs, just some blurry pictures. You can’t see any faces. It—” He took a shaky breath. “It didn’t really hit me what was happening until she sent me the pictures she took. Seeing guys just standing outside my door, seeing them in the process of picking the lock… I’m so glad I let you and Naoto convince me to stay here. I don’t want to think about what might have happened if I’d been there. I…” he trailed off for a second. Yu could hear him audibly swallowing, even through the phone. “I’m scared, Yu. I’m scared, and I’m so thankful that I have you to help me with all of this.”

“Yeah, this is a scary situation,” Yu said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’ll be fine. Like I said, I’ll call Naoto. And then probably Rise,” he said.

“Good. Let me know if anything else happens, alright?” Yu said.

“Will do. Sorry to call you at work, Partner,” Yosuke replied.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you did,” Yu assured him.

“Okay. I’m gonna hang up now,” Yosuke said.

“Okay,” Yu said. Yosuke did indeed hang up, and Yu stared at his phone for a while, absolutely shaken. He knew it was a possibility that Yosuke’s former boss might try something like this, but the fact that it was _actually happening_ was very frightening.

He got confirmation that Yosuke had indeed called Naoto when he got a text from the very detective about an hour later. He also got confirmation that Yosuke had called Rise when he got a text from her a little later than that. That eased Yu’s worries some, and he was able to complete the rest of his work in record time. His boss waved off his concerns about the fact that he’d both come in late and was leaving early, telling him that he was doing great work and that he should enjoy his weekend. Yu just hoped that he _could_.

Rise and Naoto were both there when Yu arrived home from work. He could tell not only because their shoes were piled beside Yosuke’s at the door but also because of the chorus of “welcome back”s he got in response when he announced his arrival.

Naoto was sitting across from Yosuke, an abandoned legal pad and pen at their elbow. Rise was sitting beside him at the table, and Yu immediately noticed that she had one of Yosuke’s hands on the table, palm against hers and their fingers laced. All three of them had empty mugs in front of them.

“Anything to report?” Yu asked. Naoto shook their head.

“There are a few things to discuss,” they said.

“I’m happy to report that Yosuke-senpai makes excellent coffee,” Rise said with a big grin.

“Thanks, Rise,” Yosuke replied, and her grin got bigger.

“I’d like a cup myself. Would you three like a refill?” Yu asked, making his way over to the coffee maker. He received a chorus of agreements, so he filled the coffee maker up completely full and pulled a mug down out of the cabinet for himself.

Mugs refilled, Yu took his seat at the table

“I’ve requested for there to be more of a police presence both at Yosuke-senpai’s apartment complex as well as here,” Naoto began. They held up their hand to head off Yu’s immediate concern. “I don’t believe there is any danger here, but it is better to be safe than sorry. We don’t know to what extremes Senpai’s former boss will go to.”

“Right,” Yu said, with a nod.

“The locks at Senpai’s apartment have been changed, and police confirmed that nothing appeared to have been disturbed inside the apartment. A security camera has now been temporarily installed, just in case anyone unsavory returns,” Naoto continued.

“Well, that’s good,” Yu replied.

“The investigation is… underway. Naturally as it hasn’t been long since it began, we don’t have much information yet,” Naoto continued. “But during our initial investigation we did have someone come forward with a similar story to Senpai’s.”

Yu’s attention immediately diverted over to Yosuke. He looked somewhere between angry and depressed. He looked back to Naoto after he saw Rise squeeze Yosuke’s hand.

“Over the next few days we will be compiling as much evidence and testimony as possible and turning it over to the press. The identity of both Senpai and this witness will be protected of course. The hope is that this will cause others to come forward, people that quit like Senpai did or that were terminated, or perhaps others still working at the company that are in similar situations… of course, we also don't _want_ there to be any others, but…” Naoto trailed off with a sigh. They brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of their nose. “This is a complicated situation, and unfortunately I believe that it will only become more complicated. Stay safe and take care of yourself, Senpai.” Though they were looking at Yu, he got the feeling that the detective was definitely speaking to both him and Yosuke.

“I didn’t think things would happen so quickly,” Yu said. Yosuke laughed.

“Yeah, right? This week has felt like a whole year,” he added.

“If things get messy here, you are both totally welcome at my apartment,” Rise chimed in. “Goons would have a hell of a time getting in there, the security is top notch!” She contemplated something for a second, one perfectly manicured finger tapping on her lips. “Actually, do you just want to go ahead and come stay there for a while? The both of you?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary—” Yu started, only to have Rise frown at him.

“Better to be safe than sorry, right?” she pointed out. Yu sighed.

“We’ll be fine here. I promise. I really think you’re overreacting,” Yosuke said. “Besides, I _just_ got settled in here. Please don’t make me unplug my Playstation _again_.” Rise shook her head with a smile at his objections.

“Whatever. The offer still stands, obviously,” she said.

“There’s one final thing,” Naoto said. Yu saw both Rise and Yosuke perk up, looking concerned. “Something I didn’t tell you two either.”

“What is it?” Rise asked, sounding as alarmed as she looked.

“...I ordered us some pizzas. They should be here any minute—” Naoto started to explain but was cut off by, predictably, the doorbell. They looked down at their phone with a pleased smile. “Ah, they’re early. Excuse me a moment.”

“...Oh man, Naoto got me good with that one,” Yosuke said with a sigh, putting his unoccupied hand over his heart with a quick exhale. Yu chuckled.

“Naoto doesn’t pull pranks often, but when they do... “ He said, with a laugh.

They once again squeezed all four of them onto the couch for a movie with the pizza. The plum wine was brought out, but Yu and Naoto made sure that Yosuke and Rise actually drank responsibly this time. Once the movie was over, Naoto informed them that they had an early morning the next day and would need to leave soon.

“Once this whole thing blows over we need to keep hanging out like this,” Rise said as she pulled on her jacket and boots. “I’ve really missed you guys.”

“It’s been fun,” Yosuke said. “Well… I mean, the parts that weren’t about… you know…”

“I agree,” Yu said. Naoto just nodded in agreement. They once again walked the two to the nearby train station, said their goodbyes, and returned to Yu’s apartment with no problems. Yu did notice that Yosuke looked a little nervous, but he didn’t say anything so Yu didn’t either.

“Maybe I should go back to Inaba for a while,” Yosuke eventually said, once they were safely inside Yu’s apartment again.

“What makes you say that?” Yu asked, and Yosuke let out a defeated little sigh.

“What if that asshole _does_ find out that I’m here and some thugs break in here to get at me?” Yosuke asked. “I dunno. Maybe instead I’ll go stay with Rise after all. I mean, you’ll probably want your guest room back eventually, and—”

“Yosuke, it’s fine,” Yu interrupted. He turned to fully face him, making sure he had Yosuke’s full attention. “In case it isn’t obvious, I like having you here, Yosuke. Nobody ever stays in that guest room anyway. And you know I’m crazy about you, right?” Yosuke blushed, but nodded furiously. “Okay. Now, if you _want_ to leave that’s another story…”

“No, I wanna stay here,” Yosuke blurted out, blush getting a little more intense. “I like being here, and… and I’m crazy about you, too.”

“Good,” Yu said, feeling a swell of affection for Yosuke welling up inside him. “Now, it’s gotten pretty late. Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yeah, I’m exhausted,” Yosuke replied, looking relieved.

“Do you need me to…?” Yu asked. Yosuke shook his head.

“I want to try to sleep normally again,” he explained. “After all, you’re not always going to be around to help me forget.”

“Okay. But I really don’t mind doing it, you know,” Yu reminded him. “Do you want to sleep in the bed with me, at least?”

“ _Please_ ,” Yosuke said. “I think every single noise is gonna freak me out otherwise. Hopefully knowing that you’re right there and you could kick anybody’s ass will help keep me calm.”

“And hopefully you’ll have pleasant dreams,” Yu added.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Yosuke liked to take showers at night, so he occupied the bathroom while Yu tossed out the empty pizza boxes and the empty bottle of plum wine. He went ahead and cleaned the few dishes that had piled up over the day, and by the time he was done Yosuke was done with his shower. From then it wasn’t long before they were both climbing into Yu’s bed, pajama clad and ready to sleep.

“Good night, Partner,” Yosuke said, burrowing down into Yu’s comforter and sheets.

“Good night, Yosuke. Sweet dreams,” Yu returned as he turned out the light.

“I hope,” Yosuke replied.


	8. Chapter 8

Unfortunately it seemed like sweet dreams were not in the cards for Yosuke. Yu was once again woken up in the middle of the night by sounds of distress from the other man. Yu decided to turn on the light before attempting to wake Yosuke up, hoping the light would coax him awake. That didn’t work, but it did allow Yu to see Yosuke’s face. Between the sounds he was making and the pained expression on his face, Yu could tell this nightmare was a doozy. He reached out to shake him awake but froze when he heard Yosuke speak.

“No,” he gasped. “Please, Partner, not you too…” Hearing that, Yu abandoned the quick and gentle approach, his hand shooting out and grabbing Yosuke’s shoulder.

“Yosuke,” he said, shaking him awake. Yosuke’s eyes flew open and he looked up at Yu in a panic. With a gasp he shoved Yu away and all but flailed into a sitting position, tearing the blankets and sheets away from himself. All Yu could do was watch in shock as Yosuke basically stumbled out of the bed and backed away until he hit a wall, face white with actual, genuine fear.

“Yosuke, it’s alright. You were having a nightmare—” Yu started, hoping his voice sounded calm.

“Shit,” Yosuke gasped. Both of his hands went to cover his eyes. “ _Shit_.”

“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Yu asked. He slowly pushed away the blankets and pillows and got out of bed himself.

“I’m— I’m fine, I think. Just a little…” he took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm down, but it came out as a cough. He pressed a hand over his mouth, and his next words were muffled. “I’m, I’m not hurt.”

“Good. Okay. What can I do to help, Yosuke? What do you need?” Yu asked. Yosuke shook his head.

“I-I don’t, I… I _hate_ this,” Yosuke stammered. He slid down the wall into a sitting position, legs tucked up against his body. He buried his face in his knees. “I hate this,” he repeated.

“Would you like some water?” Yu asked. Yosuke shook his head. “Hot tea?” Another shake of his head. “Okay. Do you want me to stay over here, or come over to you?”

“S-stay there,” Yosuke stammered, looking up at Yu. He still looked pretty shaken.

“Do you need me to leave the room?” Yu asked.

“No, please stay,” Yosuke said. Yu waited patiently, watching as Yosuke’s visibly quick breathing evened out and slowed down. “It was another nightmare.”

“Do you need to talk about it?” Yu prompted, after a few seconds of silence. Yosuke looked morose.

“You were in it,” he eventually said. Yu sucked in a breath, dread building in him.

“I’m guessing I didn’t burst in on a white horse to save you,” he said. Yosuke nodded.

“They… had me over the desk again, and somebody said there would be a special guest, and then you walked in and I…” Yosuke stopped, swallowing hard. “I knew it had to be a dream, because you… you didn’t even try to fight them or anything, you just came over to me and… and your eyes were yellow, like a Shadow, and I knew you were going to…”

“It’s alright, Yosuke. That wasn’t the real me. I would never do anything like that to you,” Yu reassured. Yosuke nodded and leaned his head on his knees again, though he was still looking up at Yu.

“I know. I know that, and that’s how I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn’t wake up,” Yosuke said. “And… and…” He stopped and buried his face completely in his knees, hands coming up to grip the sides of his head with a pathetic sounding moan. He said something, but Yu couldn’t make out quite what it was.

“I… I couldn’t hear you,” Yu finally spoke up. He heard Yosuke give a deep, full-body sigh and pulled away from his knees. His expression was somewhere between ashamed and angry, and he was bright red.

“I said, I’m hard again,” he choked out. “I’m super turned on. I’m horny as hell! I—” He sounded bitter and guilty. “I— I… I wanted it. In the dream and… and kinda right now.”

Yu took a deep breath.

“We should talk about this,” he said. Yosuke nodded, shakily. “We can talk now, or would you rather try and get some more sleep?”

“I don’t think I can do either of those things before at least jerking off,” Yosuke said. He tightened his grip on his legs, and then made a disgruntled noise. “God, I feel like a teenager again, waking up with boners constantly, getting turned on by things I shouldn’t be…”

“Do you need help?” Yu asked, and Yosuke snorted.

“No offense, Partner, but after that kind of a nightmare I’ve just gotta do this myself,” he said. He finally let go of his legs and managed to stand, gripping the wall for assistance. Yu winced when he saw the prominent and undoubtedly painful erection not-so concealed in Yosuke’s pajama pants.

“I’ll go make some tea,” Yu said. Yosuke looked relieved for the first time since he woke up, nodding at Yu.

“Uh, it… shouldn’t take me long,” he said, with a pathetic chuckle. “Sorry this happened again.”

“What? No, Yosuke, you don’t have to apologize for that,” Yu said, trying to sound stern but gentle. “You’re dealing with very fresh trauma. Honestly, I’d be more worried if you were acting normal.” Yosuke nodded, and Yu turned and headed to the kitchen. He glanced back just to make sure Yosuke was alright and saw him limp into Yu’s bathroom.

True to his prediction, Yosuke joined him at the table only a few minutes later. He looked exhausted and haunted and definitely worse for the wear, as to be expected. Yu put a steaming mug of mint tea down in front of Yosuke. Yosuke sniffed the drink and looked at him, confused.

“It’s mint tea, it should help with anxiety,” Yu informed him. “It helps me, at least.”

“Thanks, Partner,” Yosuke said, taking an experimental sip. He nodded and flashed Yu a tired grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Is the flavor okay?” he asked, and Yosuke nodded. Yu sat down with his own mug full of barley tea. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their drinks. Everything was quiet, not the sound of even a car driving past or cats having a scuffle in the alleyway nearby. It was almost unnerving how quiet it was. Yu calmly waited for Yosuke to speak. Normally he would have said something to prompt him, but he could almost visibly see him gathering his courage to start.

“I think… I think I have to acknowledge all of these weird feelings and desires I’m having, even if I don’t want to admit to having them,” Yosuke started, with a sigh. “Heh, I guess what we went through back in high school really didn’t teach me anything… I’m sure my Shadow is having a laugh right now.”

Yu debated about whether he wanted to speak up at that moment. He wanted to tell Yosuke not to be so hard on himself, but the fact was that he was making a good point. He needed to accept these things about himself before he could really move forward.

“Yosuke,” he said, watching Yosuke lift his head from where he was staring down at his drink. “No matter what you say, I’m not going to judge you for it. I won’t shun you or leave you,” he said. Yosuke nodded, but still looked troubled. Yu decided to try to lighten the mood, hoping his gamble would pay off. “Hey, did you know that there is a scientific reason why some people have a foot fetish?”

“...what?” Yosuke asked, looking completely bewildered. Yu took that as a good sign and continued.

“It’s a bit more complicated than how I’m going to explain it, but the theory goes that the brain stores information about the genitals and feet close together, and in some people it’s so close together that when the genitals are stimulated there is a close mental association to feet,” Yu replied. Yosuke stared at him for a second, then cracked a smile, and then a few seconds later he started laughing. Yu couldn’t help smiling too.

“Oh man, that’s hilarious,” Yosuke finally said.

“The point I’m trying to make with that is this: sometimes, what turns us on is totally random. Like our brains storing the proverbial books for feet next to the proverbial books for genitals,” Yu said. Yosuke’s grin remained, to Yu’s relief. He nodded.

“You’ve got a point,” Yosuke said. He took another drink of tea. “You know, I think this stuff is actually helping.”

“I’m glad,” Yu responded. He waited patiently as Yosuke took a few more sips of his tea before setting the mug back down.

“Okay. I guess… this is going to sound so rich coming from me considering how many people I’ve slept with, but I’m pretty uncomfortable about kinks. Not other people having kinks… _me_ having kinks,” he said. Yu nodded. Yosuke hesitated.

“I… I dunno. You’ve… I’ve slept with you the most by a pretty wide margin and you’ve been around the longest. Any insight you want to offer?” he asked. He looked embarrassed to even be asking. Yu had to take a moment to really think about what he was going to say, wanting to make sure he didn’t word it in a way that would make things worse.

“You were right on the money earlier when you said you want to be wanted,” Yu assessed. “But I think that’s only part of it. Yosuke, you aren’t going to like what I’m about to say, but I need you to stop and think about it before you deny it, okay?” Yosuke hesitantly nodded, so he continued. “I know this is going to sound farfetch’d considering… well, everything, but I think you might still have some hangups about being gay.”

An oppressive silence descended on the table as Yosuke stared at him, incredulous.

“I’ve literally—” he started, and then stopped, looking baffled. “We’ve been… we just… we’ve been fucking for… What the hell, Partner?”

“I know that, but listen, Partner. I think somewhere in you is the instinct to deny that you’re gay, and, more importanty, to deny that you enjoy being fucked,” Yu started to explain. Yosuke slammed his palm down on the table and stood, glowering down at Yu who was busy trying to stay calm.

“What, because I didn’t like _being raped_ you think I’m a homophobe, just like I was back in high school?!” Yosuke demanded. Yu stayed silent, pursing his lips shut. He maintained eye contact with Yosuke who fumed for a few more moments before blinking and closing his eyes with a look of regret on his face. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Yu replied. Yosuke sat back down and put his forehead into his hands, propping his elbows up on the table.

“It’s like your explanation about the foot thing,” Yosuke started, the words coming slowly, like he was forcing them out. “Back in high school the idea of gay sex was so… wrong, so _forbidden_ , that it turned me on. Especially the idea of it being forced on me. Ugh. Fuck. Do you… that year you were in Inaba, do you remember when our class had that campout? I said all that shit to Kanji, and even though I apologized it _still_ makes me cringe so hard even now… because I had the biggest boner that night, thinking about Kanji, like, holding me down and… Well, you know. I couldn’t even do anything about it since you and the girls were _right there_.”

“I remember that,” Yu said, nodding. “Well, I remember the campout anyway. It’s not like I noticed you had a boner all night or anything. I just thought you couldn’t sleep because the ground was uncomfortable.”

“It was awful,” Yosuke groaned. “Top ten worst experiences of my life. Right up there with all this shit with the boss and supervisors.” Yu winced. “But, anyway, it’s like that. It’s… the idea of someone more powerful than me forcing me to have sex with them. Even if I don’t want it to happen, it still turns me on.”

Yu was again silent for a while, contemplating his response.

“I think it might help if the situation were a little more controlled,” Yu started.

“What do you mean?” Yosuke asked.

“I think you might be able to take some of the edge away from the trauma if you were in a situation like that with someone you trust and actually want to have sex with,” Yu elaborated. “If you had a safe word in case the situation became overwhelming. I could… I would be willing to help you, if you want.”

“What, like a roleplay situation?” Yosuke asked. Yu frowned.

“Sort of. I was thinking more like, for example, I could hold you down and be in full control the next time we have sex. Or I could tie you up,” Yu offered. He watched Yosuke shudder a little at his words and held his breath, hoping he hadn’t gone too far already. Yosuke met his eyes and he was relieved to see that instead of fear or pain there was _nothing_ but lust in them.

“I didn’t know how much I wanted that until I heard you say it just now,” he breathed. Yu let out his own breath in relief.

“We could do some roleplay too if you wanted. Some people recover from trauma by putting themselves in controlled situations that are reminiscent of the one they experienced. Sometimes, being in a similar situation but having full control over it helps too,” Yu replied. “I mean, I’m no trauma counsellor, Yosuke, so if you wanted to do that we would both need to be careful not to do something that could make things worse, or make you have a panic attack…”

“Yeah,” Yosuke said with a nod.

“I’m concerned about your nightmare from earlier tonight, too,” Yu continued with a frown. “I’m concerned that I was in it. I’m concerned it might mean that you’re consciously or subconsciously stressed about something I’m doing.”

“Partner, I _know_ you’d never hurt me. The thought has literally never once crossed my mind,” Yosuke said. Yu continued to frown.

“I think your subconscious is saying the opposite,” he said. Yosuke huffed at him.

“My subconscious is stupid,” he said. “I trust you more than I trust anyone else in the world, even my parents. Even Teddie! I don’t know why my brain put your Shadow into that nightmare.” He stopped and looked away for a second. “Actually… no. I think I know why you were in the nightmare, Partner. I think I _do_ want you to hold me down and force me to have sex with you. I think I want you to tie me up and do whatever you want to with my body.” He finally looked back up and locked eyes with Yu. “And I don’t think I’m totally off-base here by thinking that… maybe, you want that too?”

Yu was suddenly struck by a memory he’d long been wishing he could scrub out of his brain. It had been about half a year after they had both started college. They hadn’t gotten into the same school, but they were both in Tokyo after spending their long, long final year of high school apart. Yosuke had almost immediately started dating a girl after he got settled into his class schedule. Yu had just quietly accepted it, trying to be happy for his friend, thinking that his own feelings for Yosuke would never go anywhere. The relationship hadn’t lasted long, and he’d done his best to console Yosuke and cheer him up. There had been a night, both of them a little too tipsy on terrible cheap beer, when Yu had thought for certain that Yosuke was going to make a move on him… but he hadn’t. Yu wondered, even now, how different things would be if he’d made a move on Yosuke that night. Instead, Yosuke started fooling around with a guy, one of his classmates. Yu had only found out because he’d decided one night to drop by Yosuke’s dorm room, unannounced, and had accidentally barged in on the two of them having sex.

He had gotten _so_ angry. He’d slammed the door behind him and run down the hallway and down seven flights of stairs, ignoring how his phone was frantically and incessantly ringing with Yosuke’s special ringtone. But there had been a moment right before his hasty retreat where he had stood, frozen in shock at the situation. And in that moment he’d had a thought that had really surprised him: he wanted to hold Yosuke down and fuck his brains out, whether or not he wanted it. _Especially_ if he didn’t want it, and he clearly didn’t if he was sleeping with some classmate instead of him. He was jealous of this classmate that got to have Yosuke in a way that Yu had always wanted him and, apparently, _couldn’t_ even if Yosuke was now no longer as straight as he claimed. For so long he’d let himself buy into the fiction that the only reason Yosuke didn’t want him was that he wasn’t the gender he was attracted to but, no. Apparently, Yosuke just didn’t want _him_ , and that had hurt more than he had expected it would. And, apparently, his immediate thoughts on learning that had been a clear and vivid fantasy of him pinning down his best friend and, for all intents and purposes… raping him.

That was a memory that had stuck with him a long time. It had been a major reason why he had _constantly_ asked Yosuke for consent once they’d started fooling around. He was worried that Yosuke didn’t want to have sex with him, yes, but it had also been in part to assuage his own guilt.

“Earth to Partner? Are you there?” Yosuke asked, and Yu suddenly snapped back from the memory. He took a drink of tea, draining his mug in the process.

“Yes, sorry. I… sorry. You’re right, I… I do want that,” he said. “Only if that’s what you really want, though.”

“I wouldn’t have asked you to do it if I didn’t want you to,” Yosuke replied. Yu nodded. He debated telling Yosuke about that old memory, that old sin… But it had been so, so long ago, really, it had been years. And he didn’t want to do anything that might break Yosuke’s trust. It wasn’t like he’d ever acted on it, anyway! And Yosuke was even saying he _wanted_ Yu to do things like that!

“We’ll need to set some boundaries,” Yu said. “And if I do _anything_ you don’t like, I want you to stop me _immediately_.”

“Of course,” Yosuke said, but Yu shook his head.

“I mean it, Yosuke. You have a tendency to put up with things you don’t like because you don’t want to upset the person doing them. I’ve seen it. I’m sure that’s actually happened with me before and you just haven’t ever brought it up,” Yu said. Yosuke frowned.

“Yeah, okay, but it’s always been stupid stuff, never anything important like this,” Yosuke said, confirming Yu’s suspicions. “Look, I trust you, Partner. I always have. You’ve never done anything to make me not trust you, and at this point I don’t think there’s anything you _could_ do to me that would make me stop trusting you. Well, in bed anyway…”

“Still, the important thing about this is that you will be able to stop everything right away. You’ll have complete control of the situation even if I’m completely in control of the situation… Does that even make sense?” Yu asked. Yosuke laughed.

“No, but I get it,” he said. He drained the rest of his mug and put it back down with a yawn. “And as much as I’m into the idea of you holding me down and ravaging me, I don’t think it can happen tonight.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Yu replied. He rose and gathered the mugs. “Do you think you’ll be able to sleep through the rest of the night, or do you need me to help you get back to sleep?”

“As much as I like your ‘help’, I think I’ll be alright tonight,” he said. A sudden dust of pink appeared on his cheeks as he asked, “do you want me to return the favor, though?”

“You don’t have to,” Yu replied, almost automatically.

“No, but I want to,” Yosuke said. “And you’ve ‘helped’ me so much over the past few days, it’s only fair that I do something for you.”

“Maybe tomorrow, or another night,” Yu said. The memory of how angry and confused and ashamed he’d been that night all those years ago was still there in the back of his head, killing any inkling of a boner he might have had. “Let’s just get some sleep.”

Yosuke curled up against Yu, face pressed halfway against Yu’s neck, and fell asleep almost instantly. Yu, on the other hand, lay awake for what felt like hours, powerless to do anything other than reliving memory after memory after memory of all the times he’d been angry or frustrated with Yosuke. How he’d felt so pathetic after letting Yosuke talk him into a friends with benefits relationship. How he’d been so distraught after finding out that he was far from the only person Yosuke was sleeping with. How he’d gotten so angry with Yosuke and they’d had a big fight over it. How annoyed he always got with himself when he let Yosuke come crawling back to him after a fight with his newest sex buddy. How pitiful he always felt, time after time, when Yosuke would show up with a bottle of saké and a sad smile, and Yu would always let him into his bed.

They’d finally confessed that they had feelings for the other. But what did that mean? They hadn’t discussed it. Would Yosuke stop sleeping around and only be with him? Sure, that was what Yu wanted, but did Yosuke? And if it wasn’t what Yosuke wanted… could Yu be okay with that? Could he put himself through that? He didn’t know. But if the alternative was losing Yosuke altogether…

And then, suddenly, it was morning. Yu was sure he’d fallen asleep at some point, because he would have noticed the sun rising while he was in his spiral of despair. The sun was beaming down, and Yosuke was still curled up against him like a huge cat. He didn’t have the heart to move him and he was comfortable where he was, anyway. And now that it was daytime, he found it a lot easier to think about the situation without spiraling into depressed thoughts.

He had to sit down with Yosuke and discuss the nature of their relationship. Preferably before any more sex happened, and especially before any kinky sex happened. If Yosuke didn’t want to stop sleeping around and commit, well, hopefully they could still be friends, at least. Maybe _he’d_ go to Inaba for a while. He was overdue for a visit, anyway.

Yosuke just looked so peaceful, so content. Yu didn’t have the heart to move him, especially after the hellish nights he’d been having. But Yu was starting to get hungry. He was actually a little surprised his stomach growling didn’t wake Yosuke up. The clock ticked on without Yosuke so much as stirring in his sleep. Finally, eventually, Yu decided he’d had enough.

“Partner,” he said, gently shaking him. Yosuke groaned and finally started to show signs of life. He pulled away from Yu, stretching and blinking his eyes open.

“Hey,” Yosuke eventually said, blinking sleepily at him.

“Good morning,” Yu replied. He extracted himself from the bed and headed to the kitchen.

A mug of coffee and a stack of pancakes later, both of them looked far more awake. Yu busied himself with his usual Sunday morning chores, Yosuke butting in and helping wherever he could. Lunch came and went, too, and eventually they were both out of things to use as excuses not to talk. And so they found themselves sitting across from each other at the table, drinks at hand.

“So, about last night,” Yu started.

“Yeah...” Yosuke said.

“There’s a conversation we need to have before we do anything else,” Yu said. Yosuke nodded.

“I think I know what you’re going to say but… go on, Partner,” Yosuke agreed.

“I need to know what you intend to do once this all blows over,” Yu started. “And we need to figure out what exactly we are to each-other. Are we still just friends with benefits, or…?” He trailed off, looking imploringly at Yosuke.

“I… I just…” Yosuke started, frowning deeply. “The idea of being in a committed relationship terrifies me, Yu. I just can’t help but think that I’m going to do something stupid and ruin it, and then what do I do?”

“The same thing everyone else does when their relationships go sour,” Yu replied. “You just start over. But I won’t leave you over something stupid, at least as long as you’re willing to apologize and work with me to make sure it never happens again. And I hope that you wouldn’t leave me over something stupid either.”

“You know, I think you are probably the only person on Earth I can see a future like that with,” Yosuke said. “The fact that you’ve stuck with me and I’ve stuck with you for so long is a pretty solid clue, isn’t it? And it doesn’t help that you’re hot as hell and you have a great dick.” Yu flushed at the compliments but couldn’t help smiling. “Okay. Fuck it, why not. I’m in. I won’t sleep around anymore. I kinda hated myself for doing that anyway, even though it was fun… But no more Slutsuke Hornymura. I’m a new man! I’m taken. Yu Narukami, will you be my boyfriend?”

Yu barked out a laugh, surprising himself with it so much that he choked. The thrill he got when Yosuke said the word ‘boyfriend’ certainly didn’t help. It took him a few moments of coughing and wheezing before he got his breathing back to normal.

“Yes, but only if you’ll be my boyfriend too… Slutsuke Hornymura,” he teased. Yosuke rolled his eyes.

“Hey, hey, I said I was leaving that behind me!” he chastised. Yu laughed again.

“Okay. Then, Yosuke Hanamura, will you go out with me?” he asked. Yosuke nodded, grinning.

“I’ll do my best. But, y’know, I don’t know if I’ll be a very good boyfriend. I haven’t taken someone out on a proper date in ages. I don’t know if I remember how to be romantic,” he said. Yu smirked.

“I guess I’ll just have to be extra romantic to make up for it,” he said. “After it’s safe for you to go out in public I’m taking you to _so_ many places. For now I guess we can settle for some romantic candle-lit dinners or something.”

“What about Netflix and chill?” Yosuke asked. Yu rolled his eyes.

“What happened to leaving the Hornymura name behind you?” he asked.

“Listen, I’ve got needs, okay?” Yosuke replied, and Yu laughed. A comfortable silence settled over them for a few minutes as they drank their drinks.

“So, about last night,” Yosuke said, probably intentionally repeating what Yu had said earlier. Yu nodded for him to continue. He seemed to hesitate for a second, but eventually he did continue. “I’ve given it some more thought, and I really _do_ think that the reason your Shadow was in my dream is because I want you to, uh… I want you to dominate me. Hold me down, tie me up, force me to do things, _use_ me.” By the end of his sentence his pupils were blown and he has a slight flush on his cheeks. “I think… I think it’s like you said, doing stuff like that in a controlled environment with someone I trust… it might help. At least I _hope_ it does, I don’t wanna keep having these nightmares.”

“Okay,” Yu agreed. “I might need to do some research about how to properly tie you up so you won’t get hurt, but aside from that those are all things I’m totally willing to do.” Yosuke frowned a little.

“Willing? Do you actually _want_ to do that stuff, or are you just going along with it for my sake?” Yosuke asked. Yu had to stop and take a deep, deep breath.

“I want to,” he answered, eventually. “I _really_ do. I’ve…” he stopped, reaching a hand up and running it through his hair a few times, not caring how much he messed it up in the process. He was undeniably nervous. “Ever since… that time I accidentally walked in on you having sex with that idiot classmate of yours I’ve wanted to. I wanted you and you didn’t seem to want me, you seemed to want everyone else _but_ me. That made me so _frustrated_. I just wanted to hold you down and…” He shook his head. “I thought about doing all sorts of things to you, whether or not you wanted me to.”

“Wow,” Yosuke said, eyes wide. “That long, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Yu said, and Yosuke lifted an eyebrow.

“I was the idiot that was running away from my feelings by throwing myself at anybody willing to have me _but_ the person I wanted. Why are _you_ sorry?” he asked.

“Didn’t you hear the part where I said I totally fantasized about holding you down and fucking you?” Yu asked, incredulous. “About basically raping you?”

“Okay but you _didn’t_ , and you _wouldn’t_ ,” Yosuke pointed out. “And I’ll bet that your fantasy version of me always consented, even if you weren’t sure that the real me would.”

“...yeah,” Yu admitted. He was right. Even when he’d been furious at Yosuke, when he’d jerked off to the idea of Yosuke on his knees gagging on his cock or tied to his headboard or holding Yosuke down and forcing him to take his dick… Yosuke had always been a willing participant. “You’re exactly right. Fantasy you always consented.”

“Told you,” Yosuke asked, laughing. “Nerd.” Yu glared at him, embarrassed. “But, you see? That’s how you’ve always been. That’s why I was always sure I’d be safe with you, and how I know I always will be.”

“I”m glad, I guess,” Yu grumbled.

“Still though, that thing with Keita was… what, our second year of college? Why didn’t you ever bring it up before?” Yosuke asked.

Yu thought back to that fateful night that he’d let his half-drunk, incredibly horny best friend coax him into a friends with benefits relationship. He’d just been so relieved and happy that Yosuke _did_ actually want him after all, too afraid that if he objected Yosuke would stop and never come back. Too afraid to do anything other than say yes. He himself had also been half-drunk and horny, and neither of those things had helped him keep a clear or level head that night. Sure, he’d wanted to ask why Yosuke had gone to some random classmate instead of his best friend, and why he’d kept going to other people, but the idea of bringing it up had truly terrified him.

“I didn’t want you to freak out and never talk to me again,” Yu reiterated. “You were… you _are_ the most important friend I’ve ever made, Yosuke. I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Aww, you’re the most important friend I’ve ever made too, Partner,” Yosuke replied. “And I’m sorry that I… That I never talked to you about all this. That I was never honest with you. And I’m sorry that’s the kind of person I was back then, someone who you rightfully thought would just stop talking to you over something like that.”

“Let’s just put all that behind us,” Yu said. Yosuke nodded, leaning over the table and holding his hand out. Yu chuckled at the absurdity of it but reached out and shook his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter on January 26th. I'll be posting a chapter a week every Tuesday!


End file.
